Exercising demons: Synthetic molecular motors and machines

ORGN 291

David A. Leigh, School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, The King's Buildings, West Mains Road, EH9 3JJ, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
An exciting area of contemporary chemistry is making molecules with moving parts, with the goal that they can function as nanoscopic machines capable of performing physical tasks. To do so requires the introduction of ratchet principles into synthetic molecular structures. We will discuss some of the latest developments from our group including the experimental realisation of both energy ratchets and information ratchets.

For some recent papers from the Leigh group see: Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 103, 17650-17654 (2006); Nature, 440, 286-287 (2006); J Am Chem Soc, 128, 526-532 (2006); J Am Chem Soc, 128, 1784-1785 (2006); J Am Chem Soc, 128, 2186-2187 (2006); J Am Chem Soc, 128, 4058-4073 (2006); Angew Chem Int Ed, 45, 77-83 (2006); Angew Chem Int Ed, 45, 1385-1390 (2006); J Am Chem Soc, 129, 476-477 (2007); Angew Chem Int Ed, 46, 72-191 (2007); Nature, 445, 523-527 (2007).