Knots have been rigorously studied since the 1860s, but only in the past 30 years have they been made in the laboratory in molecular form. Now, the most complex small-molecule examples so far — a composite knot and an isomeric link, each with nine crossings — have been prepared.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Fenlon, E. E. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 5023–5035 (2008)..
Fielden, S. D., Leigh, D. A. & Woltering, S. L. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 56, 11166–11194 (2017).
Kim, D. H. et al. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 57, 5669–5673 (2018).
Zhang, L. et al. Nat. Chem. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-018-0124-6 (2018).
Przytycki, J. H. Chaos, Solitons & Fractals 9, 531–545 (1998).
Tait, P. G. Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh 28, 145–190 (1876–77).
Dietrich‐Buchecker, C. O. & Sauvage, J.-P. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 28, 189–192 (1989).
Carina, R. F., Dietrich-Buchecker, C. & Sauvage, J.-P. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 118, 9110–9116 (1996).
Jamieson, E. M. G., Modicom, F. & Goldup, S. M. Chem. Soc. Rev. 47, 5266–5311 (2018).
Evans, N. H. Chem. Eur. J. 24, 3101–3112 (2018).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fenlon, E.E. What tangled webs we weave. Nature Chem 10, 1078–1079 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-018-0135-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-018-0135-3
This article is cited by
-
Construction of a molecular prime link by interlocking two trefoil knots
Nature Synthesis (2022)