According to the definition proposed by 2016 chemistry Nobel laureate Fraser Stoddart, mechanically interlocked molecules consist of two or more separate components that can only be untangled by breaking covalent bonds. One large class are ‘wheel-and-axle’ rotaxanes, which consist of a dumbbell-shaped molecule is threaded through a large cyclic molecule.
Now, a team at the INAM-UJI, designed a type of entangled metallotweezer – molecules originally created to trap planar aromatic molecules in the cavity between their two arms. Since the tweezers’ traditional U-shape complicates entanglement, the researchers crafted a more rigid alternative to meet the structural and electronic requirements of mechanically interlocked species.
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/clippanes-join-rotaxanes-and-catenan...
