The widespread use of controlled molecular-level motion in key natural processes suggests that great rewards could come from bridging the gap between the present generation of synthetic molecular systems, which by and large rely upon electronic and chemical effects to carry out their functions, and the machines of the macroscopic world, which utilize the synchronized movements of smaller parts to perform specific tasks. This is a scientific area of great contemporary interest and extraordinary recent growth, yet the notion of molecular-level machines dates back to a time when the ideas surrounding the statistical nature of matter and the laws of thermodynamics were first being formulated. Here we outline the exciting successes in taming molecular-level movement thus far, the underlying principles that all experimental designs must follow, and the early progress made towards utilizing synthetic molecular structures to perform tasks using mechanical motion. We also highlight some of the issues and challenges that still need to be overcome.

Synthetic molecular motors and mechanical machines.

The widespread use of molecular machines in biology has long suggested that great rewards could come from bridging the gap between synthetic molecular systems and the machines of the macroscopic world. In the last two decades, it has proved possible to design synthetic molecular systems with architectures where triggered large amplitude positional changes of submolecular components occur. Perhaps the best way to appreciate the technological potential of controlled molecular-level motion is to recognize that nanomotors and molecular-level machines lie at the heart of every significant biological process. Over billions of years of evolution, nature has not repeatedly chosen this solution for performing complex tasks without good reason. When mankind learns how to build artificial structures that can control and exploit molecular level motion and interface their effects directly with other molecular-level substructures and the outside world, it will potentially impact on every aspect of functional molecule and materials design. An improved understanding of physics and biology will surely follow.

The first steps on the long path to the invention of artificial molecular machines were arguably taken in 1827 when the Scottish botanist Robert Brown observed the haphazard motion of tiny particles under his microscope.1,2 The explanation for Brownian motion, that it is caused by bombardment of the particles by molecules as a consequence of the kinetic theory of matter, was later provided by Einstein, followed by experimental verification by Perrin.3,4 The random thermal motion of molecules and its implications for the laws of thermodynamics in turn inspired Gedankenexperiments (“thought experiments”) that explored the interplay (and apparent paradoxes) of Brownian motion and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Richard Feynman’s famous 1959 lecture “There’s plenty of room at the bottom” outlined some of the promise that manmade molecular machines might hold.5,6 However, Feynman’s talk came at a time before chemists had the necessary synthetic and analytical tools to make molecular machines. While interest among synthetic chemists began to grow in the 1970s and 1980s, progress accelerated in the 1990s, particularly with the invention of methods to make mechanically interlocked molecular systems (catenanes and rotaxanes) and control and switch the relative positions of their components.7−24

Here, we review triggered large-amplitude motions in molecular structures and the changes in properties these can produce. We concentrate on conformational and configurational changes in wholly covalently bonded molecules and on catenanes and rotaxanes in which switching is brought about by various stimuli (light, electrochemistry, pH, heat, solvent polarity, cation or anion binding, allosteric effects, temperature, reversible covalent bond formation, etc.). Finally, we discuss the latest generations of sophisticated synthetic molecular machine systems in which the controlled motion of subcomponents is used to perform complex tasks, paving the way to applications and the realization of a new era of “molecular nanotechnology”.

1.1. The Language Used To Describe Molecular Machines
Terminology needs to be properly and appropriately defined and these meanings used consistently to effectively convey scientific concepts. Nowhere is the need for accurate scientific language more apparent than in the field of molecular machines. Much of the terminology used to describe molecular-level machines has its origins in observations made by biologists and physicists, and their findings and descriptions have often been misinterpreted and misunderstood by chemists. In 2007 we formalized definitions of some common terms used in the field (e.g., “machine”, “switch”, “motor”, “ratchet”, etc.) so that chemists could use them in a manner consistent with the meanings understood by biologists and physicists who study molecular-level machines.14

The word “machine” implies a mechanical movement that accomplishes a useful task. This Review concentrates on systems where a stimulus triggers the controlled, relatively large amplitude (or directional) motion of one molecular or submolecular component relative to another that can potentially result in a net task being performed. Molecular machines can be further categorized into various classes such as “motors” and “switches” whose behavior differs significantly.14 For example, in a rotaxane-based “switch”, the change in position of a macrocycle on the thread of the rotaxane influences the system only as a function of state. Returning the components of a molecular switch to their original position undoes any work done, and so a switch cannot be used repetitively and progressively to do work. A “motor”, on the other hand, influences a system as a function of trajectory, meaning that when the components of a molecular motor return to their original positions, for example, after a 360° directional rotation, any work that has been done is not undone unless the motor is subsequently rotated by 360° in the reverse direction. This difference in behavior is significant; no “switch-based” molecular machine can be used to progressively perform work in the way that biological motors can, such as those from the kinesin, myosin, and dynein superfamilies, unless the switch is part of a larger ratchet mechanism.14

Artificial Molecular Machines

Determination of Association Constants (Ka) from Solution NMR Data

Stimuli-Responsive Motions to Applications Min Xue,† Yong Yang,‡ Xiaodong Chi,† Xuzhou Yan,† and Feihe Huang*,† †State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Center for Chemistry of High-Performance & Novel Materials, Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, People’s Republic of China ‡Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, People’s Republic of China

Development of Pseudorotaxanes and Rotaxanes: From Synthesis to Stimuli-Responsive Motions to Applications

This tutorial review describes in a brief historical perspective the most important organic compounds that exhibit photochromism in the crystalline state since its discovery in 1867 up to now and considers in detail Schiff bases of salicylaldehyde with amines (anils). The latter comprise a chemical system undergoing hydrogen-atom tautomerism between enol and keto forms and show the phenomena of solid state photochromism and thermochromism. The system has been investigated extensively. Thus it has been shown that the photochromic property is a characteristic of the molecules but their chromobehaviour is influenced by the crystal structure of the compounds. Anils, apart from their fundamental interest, have potential for various applications.

Photochromism and thermochromism of Schiff bases in the solid state: structural aspects.

The photochromic and thermochromic properties of trans - N , N ′-bis(salicylidene)-1,2-cyclohexanediamine ( 1 ), trans - N , N ′-bis(3,5-dichloro-salicylidene)-1,2-cyclohexanediamine ( 2 ), trans - N , N ′-bis(3,5-di- t -butyl-salicylidene)-1,2-cyclohexanediamine ( 3 ) and trans - N , N ′-bis(2-hydroxy-naphylidene)-1,2-cyclohexanediamine ( 4 ) were investigated by UV and fluorescence spectroscopies in the crystalline state at various temperatures and the molecular structures of 2 and 4 were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The existence of the two Schiff base groups on a single molecule does not seem to differentiate the chromobehavior of the present compounds (except possibly for 3 ) with respect to the usual Schiff bases of salicylaldehyde. It is suggested that for this class of compounds also, what determines the thermochromic behavior is the enhanced basicity of the nitrogen atom, due the absence of π,π- and n ,π-conjugation with an aryl ring bound to it. The role of the crystal structure in this case is important only in so far as it affects the electron density on the nitrogen atom. Photochromism, however, is structure dependent and requires space for the generation of the photoproduct that involves cis to trans isomerization in the excited state.

Photochromism and thermochromism of solid trans-N, N'-bis-(salicylidene)-1,2-cyclohexanediamines and trans-N, N'-bis-(2-hydroxy-naphylidene)-1,2-cyclohexanediamine

The interactions of 11-aminoundecanoic acid (1), 12-aminododecanoic acid (2), 1,12-diaminododecane (3), and 1,13-tridecanoic diacid (4) with α-cyclodextrin (αCD) were studied in aqueous solution by NMR spectroscopy. The association modes were established with titration and continuous variation plots, variable temperature NMR spectra, and dipolar interactions as recorded in 2D ROESY spectra. The studies were carried out at pH 7.3 and 13.6. These long, linear bifunctional molecules were found to form simultaneously [2]- and [3]pseudorotaxanes with αCD in the aqueous solution. At the higher pH the 1:1 adducts were present at concentrations higher than at the neutral pH. The longer guests formed complexes enriched in the 2:1 constituent at both pH values. There were clear indications that the [2]pseudorotaxanes are present in two isomeric forms. The presence of isomers also in the [3]pseudorotaxanes was not ruled out. Various exchange rate regimes were observed; clearly in neutral solutions the formation of t...

NMR Detection of Simultaneous Formation of [2]- and [3]Pseudorotaxanes in Aqueous Solution between α-Cyclodextrin and Linear Aliphatic α,ω-Amino acids, an α,ω-Diamine and an α,ω-Diacid of Similar Length, and Comparison with the Solid-State Structures

Synthesis and characterization of the new complex Mo(CO)4(2,2′-pq), where 2,2′-pq = 2-(2′pyridyl)quinoxaline, 1, is presented. The ligand 2,2′-pq, 2, belongs to the general class of quinoxalines, natural products yielding a rich coordination chemistry. This is the first reference for its coordination with Mo. Complex 1 crystallizes in space group P21/n with a = 9.621(4), b = 16.748(7), c = 10.343(4)
A, Z = 4 and V = 1626.4(12)
A3. The octahedral geometry of the metal centre is distorted due to the bending of the axial carbonyls from the ligand 2. This bending is associated with the extensive solvatochromism of the MLCT band of complex 1 and related complexes as our semi-empirical calculations (ZINDO) and comparison with other complexes of Mo(CO)4L indicate. Moreover Oshika–Bayliss–McRae's formalism is employed in order to depict the solvation factors that influence the solvatochromism of 1. The latter one is attributed to the enhanced π-backbonding in 1, the polarization of the valence electrons of 2 and to the contribution of COs in the HOMO.

Synthesis and characterization of a novel complex: Mo(CO)4[2-(2′pyridyl)quinoxaline]. An insight based on experimental and theoretical data

An experimental and DFT computational study of a novel zerovalent tetracarbonyl tungsten complex of 2-(2′-pyridyl)quinoxaline

The crystal of theβCD-3,5-dimethylbenzoic acid inclusion complex is triclinicP1 witha=15.707(3),b=15.694(3),c=15.999(3) A, α=101.502(5),β=101.557(5), γ=103.805(4)°,V=3624 A3, andZ=1. Two crystallographically independentβCD molecules form a dimer by means of hydrogen bonds between secondary hydroxyl groups in which disordered guest molecules in six orientations are accommodated. In two of them the guest molecules are situated at the dimer interface, their carboxyl groups interacting with the carboxyl groups of two other guest orientations that are found on either side of the monomer cavity. In the two last orientations the guest molecules enter the monomer cavities in an opposite sense with the carboxyl groups protruding from the primary side and are stabilized by cyclodextrin hydroxyl groups. A dense water network is formed in the interdimer space consisted of 18.2 water molecules distributed over 24 sites.

Aliki Rontoyianni

Papers

Photochromism and thermochromism of solid trans-N, N'-bis-(salicylidene)-1,2-cyclohexanediamines and trans-N, N'-bis-(2-hydroxy-naphylidene)-1,2-cyclohexanediamine

NMR Detection of Simultaneous Formation of [2]- and [3]Pseudorotaxanes in Aqueous Solution between α-Cyclodextrin and Linear Aliphatic α,ω-Amino acids, an α,ω-Diamine and an α,ω-Diacid of Similar Length, and Comparison with the Solid-State Structures

Synthesis and characterization of a novel complex: Mo(CO)4[2-(2′pyridyl)quinoxaline]. An insight based on experimental and theoretical data

An experimental and DFT computational study of a novel zerovalent tetracarbonyl tungsten complex of 2-(2′-pyridyl)quinoxaline

The crystal structure of the inclusion complex of cyclomaltoheptaose (β-cyclodextrin) with 3,5-dimethylbenzoic acid