A Co-conformationally “Topologically” Chiral Catenane

As recognized in the early 1960s, catenanes composed of two achiral rings that are oriented (Cnh symmetry) as a result of the sequence of atoms they contain are topologically chiral. Here we present the first synthesis of a highly enantioenriched catenane containing a related but overlooked “co-conformationally ‘topologically’ chiral” stereogenic unit, which arises when a bilaterally symmetric Cnv ring is desymmetrised by the position of an oriented macrocycle.