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Designing compounds for the selective molecular recognition of carbohydrates is a challenging task for supramolecular chemists. Macrocyclic compounds that incorporate isophtalamide or bisurea spacers linking two aromatic moieties have proven effective for the selective recognition of all-equatorial carbohydrates. Here, we explore the molecular recognition properties of an octa-urea [Pd 2 L 4 ] 4+ cage complex (4). It was found that small anions like NO 3 - and BF 4 - bind inside 4 and inhibit binding of n-octyl glycosides. When the large non-coordinating anion 'BAr F ' was used, 4 showed excellent selectivity towards n-octyl-α-D-Mannoside with binding in the order of K a ≈16 M -1 versus non-measurable affinities for other glycosides including n-octyl-β-D-Glucoside (in CH 3 CN/H 2 O 91 : 9)., (© 2021 The Authors. ChemPhysChem published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)