Novel and efficient templates for assembly of rotaxanes and catenanes

Efficient templates play an important role in the construction of mechanically interlocked molecules such as catenanes and rotaxanes. This minireview presents a retrospective introduction on the traditional templates and highlights recent significant accomplishments in developing novel and efficient templates, especially active metal templates and radical templates, employed in the construction of rotaxanes and catenanes. The current status of this field is summarized and the scope and future prospects are also discussed in this minireview.