Manchester University PhD student Alex Stephens and his colleagues have successfully synthesized a Star of David catenane – a star-shaped molecule made up of interlocking rings.

Chemists have been trying to create a Star of David molecule for over two decades.

It consists of two molecular triangles, entwined about each other three times into a hexagram. Each triangle is 114 atoms in length around the perimeter.

The molecular triangles are threaded around each other at the same time that the triangles are formed, by a process called ‘self-assembly’, similar to how the DNA double helix is formed in biology.

“In nature, biology already uses molecular chainmail to make the tough, light shells of certain viruses and now we are on the path towards being able to reproduce its remarkable properties,” said Prof David Leigh of the University of Manchester, who is the first author of a paper published in the journal Nature Chemistry.

“It’s the next step on the road to man-made molecular chainmail, which could lead to the development of new materials which are light, flexible and very strong.”

“Just as chainmail was a breakthrough over heavy suits of armor in medieval times, this could be a big step towards materials created using nanotechnology. I hope this will lead to many exciting developments in the future.”

The scientists now plan to make larger, more elaborate, interlocked structures.

http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/chemistry/science-star-of-david-molecule-02176.html