The widespread use of molecular machines in biology has long suggested that great
rewards could come from bridging the gap between synthetic molecular systems and the …

Ruthenium-based olefin metathesis catalysts, known for their functional group tolerance and
broad applicability in organic synthesis and polymer science, continue to evolve as an …

Formation of an imine—from an amine and an aldehyde—is a reversible reaction which
operates under thermodynamic control such that the formation of kinetically competitive …

Entangling strands in a well-ordered manner can produce useful effects, from shoelaces and
fishing nets to brown paper packages tied up with strings. At the nanoscale, non-crystalline …

Half a century after Schill and Lüttringhaus carried out the first directed synthesis of a [2]
catenane, a plethora of strategies now exist for the construction of molecular Hopf links …

1.1. History and Background Knots and links are all around us (Figure 1). Be they functional
or decorative, we encounter them constantly, when, for example, tying simple bow knots in …

More than a quarter of a century after the first metal template synthesis of a [2] catenane in
Strasbourg, there now exists a plethora of strategies available for the construction of …

The realization of the Borromean link in a wholly synthetic molecular form is reported. The
self-assembly of this link, which is topologically achiral, from 18 components by the template …

Active metal template synthesis is a powerful new strategy for the construction of rotaxanes,
catenanes and other mechanically interlocked molecular structures. The key feature is that …

Many naturally occurring systems show us how multi-component supramolecular
assemblies can generate useful functional behaviour. In this article the problems and …