From Chemical Topology to Molecular

T o a large extent, the eld of “molecular machines” started aer several groups were able to prepare reasonably easily interlocking ring compounds (named catenanes for compounds consisting of interlocking rings and rotaxanes for rings threaded by molecular laments or axes). Important families of molecular machines not belonging to the interlocking world were also designed, prepared and studied but, for most of them, their elaboration was more recent than that of catenanes or rotaxanes. Since the creation of interlocking ring molecules is so important in relation to the molecular machinery area, we will start with this aspect of our work. e second part will naturally be devoted to the dynamic properties of such systems and to the compounds for which motions can be directed in a controlled manner from the outside, i.e., molecular machines. We will restrict our discussion to a very limited number of examples which we consider particularly representative of the eld.