In organic chemistry, a molecular compound consisting of two or more rings interlinked like links in a chain, without covalent bonds between rings.
From catena (Latin for chain) plus -ane (hydrocarbon suffix). Coined in 1970s chemistry to describe these unusual ring structures that are mechanically interlocked.
Catenanes were once thought impossible to make until chemists designed clever synthetic routes in the 1960s—they're now key to creating 'molecular machines,' showing how knowing the right word helps scientists imagine previously impossible structures.
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