Molecular Machines Win 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

A tiny elevator, artificial muscles and miniature motors… In 2016, the Chemistry Nobel Prize was awarded to Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa for successfully designing and producing molecular machines. Scientists succeeded in developing molecules that perform a task by executing controlled movements when energy is supplied. For some time, particularly developments in the computer field, have demonstrated what a revolution miniaturization of technology has led to. The 2016 Chemistry Nobel Prize miniaturized machines and advanced chemistry to a new dimension. The first step towards a molecular machine was taken by Jean-Pierre Sauvage in 1983 with his work called Catenane, which linked two ring-shaped molecules together to form a chain. Normally molecules are joined by strong covalent bonds where atoms share electrons, but in this chain they were instead connected by a freer mechanical bond. For a machine to perform a task, it must consist of parts that can move relative to each other.

The linked rings exactly fulfilled this requirement.

The second step was taken in 1991 with Rotaxane, developed by Fraser Stoddart. The scientist threaded a molecular ring onto a thin molecular axle and demonstrated that the ring could move along the axis. Among Stoddart's work based on Rotaxanes are a molecular elevator, molecular muscle and a molecule-based computer chip. Bernard Feringa was the first person to develop a molecular motor. In 1999, he created a molecular rotor blade that continuously rotated in the same direction. The accomplished scientist succeeded in rotating a glass cylinder 10,000 times larger than itself using molecular motors. Feringa also designed a nano-vehicle. The winners of the 2016 Chemistry Nobel Prize removed molecular systems from their static state and brought them to a stage where their movements could be controlled when energy was supplied. In terms of technological advancement, this can be compared to the electric motor discovered in the 1830s. Scientists of that era, without fully realizing what an important discovery they had made, began turning various wheels and cranks through this technology, which would later transform into washing machines, fans and countless different motors. It is already possible to foresee that molecular machines will be used in the development of new materials, sensors and energy storage systems.