Chemists Accidentally Create World's Smallest Knot with 54 Atoms

The self-assembled trefoil knot, smaller than the previous 69-atom record, could advance understanding of molecular structures in nature and aid in the discovery of new polymers.

A team of chemists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics and the University of Western Ontario have accidentally tied the smallest knot ever, using just 54 atoms.
The knot, a trefoil knot, was created while the team was trying to create metal acetylides in their lab.
The knot's three-leaf clover shape beats out a previous record held by a different team in China that created a 69-atom knot back in 2020.
The creation of such tiny knots could help in the discovery of new types of polymers and/or plastics, and in understanding how and why microscopic knots form in natural settings, such as in RNA and DNA.
The team still does not understand how the knot self-assembled, and it is not yet known if it is possible to make a knot any smaller.