Two new difunctionalised [2]catenanes 5b,c have been synthesised. Olig
omers 10c,d containing interlocked rings in the main chain were prepar
ed via Pd degrees coupling of 5b with comonomers 9c,d and degrees of p
olymerization of up to 8 have been reached. These materials were chara
cterized by H-1 NMR spectroscopy, fast atom bombardment-mass spectrosc
opy, gel-permeation chromatography and differential scanning calorimet
ry.