Lecture: "Making the tiniest machines"
Professor David A. Leigh
Royal Society Research Professor
Sir Samuel Hall Chair of Chemistry
Department of Chemistry
The University of Manchester, UK
Professor David A. Leigh is a Guest Lecturer of the Joshua Jortner Distinguished Lectures in Chemistry Endowed by Raymond and Beverly Sackler for the academic year 2022/2023.
Abstract:
In recent years, examples of synthetic molecular machines and motors1 have been developed,2 all be they primitive by biological standards. Such molecules are best designed to work through statistical mechanisms. In a manner reminiscent of Maxwell’s Demon3 random thermal motion is rectified through ratchet mechanisms,3-7 giving chemistry direction.
It is increasingly being recognized that similar concepts can be applied to other chemical exchange processes.8 Ratchet mechanisms - effectively chemical engines9 in which catalysis4,6,7 of ‘fuel’ to ‘waste’ is used to drive another chemical process - cause directional impetus in what are otherwise stochastic systems, including reversible chemical reactions. This is ushering in a new era of non-equilibrium chemistry, providing fundamental advances in functional molecule design, overturning existing dogma and offering fresh insights into biology and molecular nanotechnology.
[1] The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016–Advanced Information. Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014. Web. 6 Oct, 2016, http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2016/advanced.html. [2] "Rise of the molecular machines", Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 54, 10080 (2015). [3] "A molecular information ratchet", Nature 445, 523 (2007). [4] "An autonomous chemically fuelled small-molecule motor", Nature 534, 235 (2016). [5] "Rotary and linear molecular motors driven by pulses of a chemical fuel", Science 358, 340 (2017). [6] "A catalysis-driven artificial molecular pump", Nature 594, 529 (2021). [7] "Autonomous fuelled directional rotation about a covalent single bond", Nature 604, 80 (2022). [8] "Design, synthesis and operation of small molecules that walk along tracks", J. Am. Chem. Soc. 132, 16134 (2010). [9] "Chemical engines: Driving systems away from equilibrium through catalyst reaction cycles", Nat. Nanotechnol. 16, 1057 (2021).
