Self-Assembled Topologically Chiral Catenane via Ketone-Hydrazide Condensation

Herein, two catenanes are efficiently self-assembled with near-quantitative yields through the condensation of bishydrazide with two structurally analogous dicarbonyl precursors in aqueous solution, where the hydrophobic effect drives the self-assembly process. Notably, one of the dicarbonyl precursors features two distinct electrophilic ligating sites, a formyl group and a ketone group, which introduce molecular dissymmetry. This asymmetric feature breaks the inherent symmetry plane of catenane, thereby endowing topological chirality to the latter.