Review and Prospect of Molecular Machines:Introduction to Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016
HUANG Fu1, ZHAO Wei1, CHE Yan-Ke1, JIANG Hua2
1. Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China;
2. College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Abstract In 1983, Jean-Pierre Sauvage linked two ring-shaped molecules together to form a chain, called a catenane in which the two interlocked rings can move relative to each other. In 1991, Fraser Stoddart developed a rotaxane and displayed that the interlocked ring was able to move along the axle. Based on rotaxanes, he developed a few complex molecular machines, for instance, a molecular lift and a molecular muscle. In 1999, Bernard Feringa first developed a unidirectional, light-driven molecular motor which was further applied to design a nanocar.Sauvage,Stoddar and Feringa shared the Nobel Prize in chemisty in 2016 for the design and synthesis of molecular machines.
HUANG Fu, ZHAO Wei, CHE Yan-Ke, JIANG Hua. Review and Prospect of Molecular Machines:Introduction to Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Education, 2016, 37(22): 1-5.