Mechanical tightening of a synthetic molecular knot

作者：Calvaresi, Matteo; Duwez, Anne-Sophie^*; Leigh, David A.^*; Sluysmans, Damien; Song, Yiwei; Zerbetto, Francesco^*; Zhang, Liang^*

来源：Chem, 2023, 9(1): 65-75.

DOI：10.1016/j.chempr.2022.12.014

• FORCE SPECTROSCOPY
• TEMPLATE SYNTHESIS
• PROTEIN SLIPKNOT
• TREFOIL KNOT
• CATALYSIS
• BREAKAGE
• TOPOLOGY
• CATENANE
• THREADS
• BINDING

Molecular-level knots occur in DNA, RNA, proteins, and polymers of sufficient length and flexibility. Quantifying the response of knots to external stress is central to both their usefulness and limitations. Here, the mechanical response of synthetic small-molecule trefoil knots is investigated by single-molecule pulling experiments. The results are illustrative of the relative rigidity of such knots, as well as their higher resistance to external loads than that of biological knots. As a result of the compact structure, the recovery of conformation after mechanical perturbation is very fast. The tightening also plays an important role in accommodating mechanical stress.

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