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SUPRAMOLECULAR CAGES

A ravel alliance

Nature Chemistry volume 13, pages 824–826 (2021)Cite this article

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A new class of interwoven metal–organic containers, including one with a cubic architecture, twelve crossing points and a large internal volume, has now been reported. Interconversion between different self-assembled structures can be triggered by simply exchanging the associated anions.

Complex topology lends function to many natural biomolecular structures. Hopf links \(({2_{1}^{2}})\) knit together the ‘chain-mail’ capsid of the bacteriophage HK97, augmenting its robustness1. Topologically non-trivial DNA conformations in other bacteriophages increase the efficiency of viral DNA ejection2. The knotted cores of proteins can increase thermal stability and decrease solvent accessibility, providing a favourable environment for the active site3. Knotted proteins also show increased kinetic stability, unfolding more slowly than their unknotted counterparts4, and synthetic metal–organic knots can be embedded into phospholipid bilayers to serve as selective ion channels5.

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Fig. 1: Molecular knots and ravels.

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  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Andrew W. Heard, Natasha M. A. Speakman & Jonathan R. Nitschke

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  1. Andrew W. Heard
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  2. Natasha M. A. Speakman
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  3. Jonathan R. Nitschke
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Correspondence to Jonathan R. Nitschke.

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Heard, A.W., Speakman, N.M.A. & Nitschke, J.R. A ravel alliance. Nat. Chem. 13, 824–826 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-021-00776-1

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