Molecular knots and other topological architectures have attracted increasing attention over the past few decades. However, in solution, these architectures usually exist as mixtures due to their instability, which limits their potential applications. Herein, two molecular building blocks with large conjugated-π areas and two nonrigid ligands with suitable flexibility were selectively employed to obtain complicated architectures with high stabilities. Remarkably, three very stable trefoil knots were obtained, as expected in advance, whose high stabilities can be attributed to π-π stacking, C–H···π interactions and hydrogen bonds. This research provides a strategy to obtain complicated molecular architectures with high stabilities.

在过去的几十年中，分子结和其他拓扑结构引起了越来越多的关注。但是，在解决方案中，这些体系结构由于其不稳定性而通常作为混合物存在，这限制了它们的潜在应用。在此，选择性地使用具有大的共轭-π面积的两个分子构件和具有合适的柔性的两个非刚性配体来获得具有高稳定性的复杂结构。值得注意的是，如预料的那样，获得了三个非常稳定的三叶结，其高稳定性归因于π-π堆积，CH-··π相互作用和氢键。该研究提供了获得具有高稳定性的复杂分子结构的策略。