In chemistry, a knotane (molecular knot) is a molecule equipped with a knot. A knotane in a trefoil knot configuration is chiral. Examples of naturally formed knotanes are DNA and certain proteins. Lactoferrin has a unusual biochemical reactivity compared to its linear analogue. Other synthetic knotanes have a distinct globular shape and nanometer sized dimensions that make it potential building blocks in nanotechnology.
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references
Oleg Lukin, Fritz Vögtle; Knotting and Threading of Molecules: Chemistry and Chirality of Molecular Knots and Their Assemblies; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 10/2005 p 1425
