Rotaxanes and Catenanes Built Around Octahedral Transition Metals

Transition metals are extremely useful tools for the preparation of rotaxanes and catenanes. Traditionally, copper(I) has played an important role in this field, but recently octahedrally coordinated metal centres such as ruthenium(II), have allowed the preparation of highly functional interlocking ring systems. The present review article will discuss this new approach, which gives access to novel rotaxanes and catenanes. Besides the purely synthetic work described, the potential of the prepared compounds to be used as light-driven molecular machines will be mentioned. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2004)