| Interpenetration | Polycatenation |
| The component motifs are infinitely extended 1D, 2D or 3D nets | The motifs can be 0D and 1D (with closed circuits) or 2D, of the same or of different types |
| The individual motifs have an identical topology | The individual motifs may have different topology |
| The number of the entangled motifs is finite | Infinite number of entangled motifs |
| The resulting dimensionality is the same of the component motifs | The resulting dimensionality is increased (for at least one motif) |
| Each motif is interlaced with all the other ones forming the array | Each motif is never interlaced with all the other ones of the array |
| The resulting entangled array is infinite periodic | |