How a molecule transforms into a machine: a bridge between chemistry and nano

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the winners of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, with French scientist Jean-Pierre Sovaj, American scientist Fraser Stoddart and Dutch scientist Bernard Ferringa Scientists, because of their contributions in the field of molecular machine design and synthesis, will share a Nobel Prize of 8 million Swedish kronor (about 933,300 US dollars).

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Jean-Pierre Sovic, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, and Bernard L. Feringa in 2016. They made a molecular machine with only a thousandth of the thickness of the hair. They succeeded in linking the molecules together to design all molecular machines, including micro-lifts, micro-motors, and miniature muscle structures.

Jean-Pierre Savage was born in Paris, France in 1944. In 1971, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Strasbourg, France. He is currently an Emeritus Professor at the University of Strasbourg and Director of Honorary Research at the French National Academy of Sciences.

Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, born in Edinburgh, England in 1942, received his Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh in 1966, and is currently a professor of chemistry at Northwestern University.

Bernard L. Feringa was born in 1951 in Badaj-Kampakan, the Netherlands. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands in 1978 and is currently a professor of organic chemistry at the University of Groningen.

Nobel Prize, molecular machine

Wei Fei: This is the new direction of nano research

Wei Fei is a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Tsinghua University. His main research areas are gas-solid multiphase reactions and nanomaterial preparation, clean energy chemical processes and their engineering.

This is a new direction of nano research. Such a kind of thing that can be used to do movable things through chemical methods, and to do machines through bottom-up methods, is not in the previous Chemistry Prize. So I think this is a big breakthrough. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry still pays attention to the basics. This is very important.

Wang Yongting: Basic research awards are very good

Wang Yongting is a professor at the School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University. He is mainly involved in the research of brain injury repair.

My understanding of this year's award-winning research is the use of chemical synthesis to prepare functional structures that allow chemical molecules to be linked together to produce predictable motion.

I am not familiar with the field of organic chemistry. I feel that the award-winning scientists are able to make micro-machines with potential for future applications. The Nobel Prize is a good opportunity to understand their unfamiliar areas. The basic research awards are very good and I am very happy to have the opportunity to review organic chemistry.

White Bird: Chemistry Prize This is a real chemistry award.

Bai Bird, Associate Professor, School of Environmental Sciences, Tianjin University of Technology, member of the Science Squirrel Association

Looking at the official statement of the Nobel Prize, the three winners were equivalent to pioneering the use of supramolecular self-assembly. Sauvage first realized the self-joining of two cyclic molecules, and then Stoddart realized the use of one molecule to push the other. Molecular motion, followed by Feringa developed a molecular motor. These three aspects of work together have realized the state of changing the molecule from steady state to being able to move, and initially realized its control. Simply put, it is through artificial design that allows super-large molecules to achieve controllable structural changes and movements. It can be said that this is a basic research, and it is also very fun if done well, such as nano-robots, biological computers (and not binary). The chemistry prize is finally said to have been shackled by the physics or physiological prize.

Cui Qiang: It seems that the Nobel Prize judging standard is also trying to change

Cui Qiang is a professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin. He is engaged in theoretical and computational chemistry, and related research in biophysics.

Molecular motor? ? basic science! We are still predicting that "molecular motors, molecular machines" are too frontier. It seems that the Nobel Prize judge is also trying to change. Support basic science!

Ma Mingming: I am surprised.

Ma Mingming is a professor of chemistry at the University of Science and Technology of China. He is mainly engaged in the research of supramolecular chemistry and organic functional materials.

The first prize of supramolecular chemistry was in 1987, this is the second time. Jean-Pierre Sauvage is a student of J.-M. Lehn, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987 and is an organic chemist for the three Nobel Prize in Chemistry this year. Lehn is the only surviving winner of the first Nobel Prize in Supramolecular Chemistry, and few of the chemical promises of Lehn's contemporaries are still alive. His influence is very large and he should make an important contribution to this super-molecular award. This field may be unfamiliar to many people. I am actually doing supramolecular chemistry, but I am also amazed at how many of them can win prizes. There is not much application in this field at present, for other fields of chemistry. The impact is not particularly large. Perhaps the Nobel Prizes Committee is looking at the future application prospects in this field. Just like the 87th Chemistry Prize winner Jean Marie Lehn said, the future of supramolecular chemistry may be upgraded to supramolecular science, which is the future of the entire chemical industry. A major development direction.

And what these three scientists have done is linking traditional organic molecules to the now very hot nanotechnology to a certain extent. On the other hand, supramolecular chemistry can solve the chemical and biological connections.

But for now, these nanomachines are still very far from the application. There are a lot of sci-fi movies, and it is estimated that the judges like the sci-fi movies of the hacker type.

The big cows in the unwinned field should be very happy because there is still a chance.

I personally think that the complexity of supramolecular chemistry is between chemistry and biology. It should be said that the complexity of organic chemistry is more than one order of magnitude. This award should be said that the Nobel Prize Committee hopes that everyone can develop in this direction. I pay more attention to it, but this direction is mainly based on basic research in the near future.

Kong Xueqian: It’s too unexpected, it’s too unexpected.

Kong Xueqian, "National Youth Thousand Talents Program" special researcher, Ph.D., Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, mainly studies the application of nuclear magnetic resonance technology in the fields of chemistry and materials.

This is currently a very popular category of supramolecular chemistry. Supramoleculars are always present in nature, that is, molecules use "wet interactions" to "combine together", so that the whole can produce the ability that the original single molecule does not have. A DNA molecule is a supramolecule. What the three winners did was to design such molecules to achieve the capabilities that the original natural molecules did not have. However, the artificial use of the nature of this supramolecule to artificially design molecules is a direction that has only emerged in recent years. It is still a young field, and it is still unknown what will develop in the future. Perhaps this is the Nobel Committee wanting to stimulate the development of this field.

I think that if this field can really develop in the future, there will be a very broad prospect, not only the molecular motor, but also the self-assembly of molecules and the response of molecules. For example, intelligent molecules can respond differently in different environments, and such molecules are also likely to be designed. Potential applications include molecular switches, molecular muscles, molecular robots, and molecular everything.

So there are two key findings in this Nobel Prize—one is a supramolecule that assembles multiple molecules through electrostatic interaction or hydrogen bonding or van der Waals forces; the second is to let these molecules move in one piece, which is effective The movement, rather than the random movement, transforms the external energy into mechanical energy.

There is still a long way to go, and I hope that this Nobel Prize will promote the development of this field.

I feel very happy as a scientist if I get a Nobel Prize in my field, because it means that your field will have a big development. However, no prize is a better opportunity, maybe the next Nobel Prize is your field. The Nobel Prize only represents the taste of the Nobel Prize judges. It is just as important to have a good science without a Nobel Prize. After all, scientists are not working for the Nobel Prize, and they are pursuing their own curiosity and mission.

It is not who wins the prize, that more and more people pay attention to science and actively participate in scientific practice. In the future, there will be hope for our country's own Nobel Prize.

Interpretation of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

How small can you make the machine? Nobel laureate Richard Feynman predicted the development of nanotechnology in the 1950s, and he raised this issue in a visionary speech in 1984. With bare feet, wearing a pink polo shirt and beige shorts, he turned to the audience and said, "Now let's talk about the possibility of making extremely tiny machines with moving parts."

He believes that it is possible to build machines at the nanoscale. This is there in nature. He cited bacterial flagella as an example. The macromolecules in the shape of these wine openers continue to rotate, pushing the bacteria forward. But can humans use their own huge hands to make such a small machine that needs an electron microscope to see?

Future vision: molecular machines will appear within 25 to 30 years

One possible way is to make a smaller machine than the human hand, then use this new "hand" to make smaller hands, then make smaller hands, and so on, until Make the same miniature machine with miniature hands. Feynman said that someone tried it, but it didn't work.

Another kind of strategy that Richard Feynman thinks is more reliable is to build machinery from the bottom up. In his theory, different substances, such as silicon, can be sprayed onto the same surface, with a layer of atoms stacked on top of each other. Thereafter, some of the layers are partially dissolved and removed, forming moving parts that can be controlled using electrical current. In Feynman's vision for the future, such a structure can be used to make a shutter of a miniature camera.

The purpose of the lecture was to inspire the researchers at the audience to test where the limits of what they believe are. Finally, Feynman closed his notebook and looked at the audience. He said: "...you can give it a try. Can you redesign the machines you are familiar with? This process is definitely very pleasant. Within 25~30 years, it should be There are some practical applications in this area. But what is it specifically, I don't know."

Feynman and the researchers at the time did not know that molecular mechanics research had taken the first step, and the way was quite different from Feynman's prediction.

Lock the molecules with mechanical force

In the mid-20th century, in order to create increasingly complex molecules, chemists tried to create molecular chains that allowed ring molecules to connect to each other. If someone can do this successfully, it will not only mean the birth of an amazing new molecule, but also create a brand new chemical bond. Under normal circumstances, molecules are held by strong covalent bonds in which atoms share electrons. And this dream is to replace it with a mechanical key, so that the molecules are interlocked and their atoms do not interact directly (Figure 1).

In the 1950s and 1960s, some research groups reported the production of molecular chains in their test tubes. However, they produced very small quantities and the methods were too complex and therefore limited in their use. People see these achievements more as curiosity rather than functional chemistry. After years of setbacks, many people gave up hope, and by the early 1980s, the field was full of boredom. However, a major breakthrough occurred in 1983. With a common copper ion, a French research team led by Jean-Pierre Savage took control of the molecule.

Jean-Pierre Sorwich gathered the molecules around a copper ion

In scientific research, inspiration often comes from completely different fields. The research area of ​​Jean-Pierre Sorwich is photochemistry, and chemists in this field are trying to develop molecular complexes that capture solar energy and use it to drive chemical reactions. When Sovich built one of these photochemical molecular models, he suddenly discovered the similarity between the model and the molecular chain: a core copper ion wrapped around two molecules.

This flash of light made the direction of Jean-Pierre Sorwich's research. Using this photochemical complex as a model, his team constructed a circular molecule and a crescent-shaped molecule that allowed the two molecules to be attracted by copper ions (Fig. 1); copper ions act as cohesive forces to make these The molecules stay together. Next, the research team used chemical means to "weld" the crescent-shaped molecule to another molecule, so that the other ring formed - it formed the first chain with the previous ring molecule. Buckle. At this point, the researcher is able to remove the copper ions that have completed the task.

Nobel Prize, molecular machine

Figure 1: Jean-Pierre? Sorwich uses the mechanical bonds of copper ions to interlock the molecules

Chemists will discuss the "yield" of a chemical reaction: the percentage of reactants that form the target molecule as a percentage of the initial reactant. Previously, the most successful yields in the study of building ring-forming molecules were only a few percent. With the help of copper ions, Sovich can increase the yield to a staggering 42%. Suddenly, the molecular chain is no longer just a fun thing.

With such a revolutionary approach, Sovich revived the field of topological chemistry. In this field, researchers (often with metal ions) interlock molecules in more and more complex structures – from long chains to complex kinks.

Jean-Pierre Sovic and J. Fraser Stoddart (we will talk about him soon) are the leaders in this field, and their research groups have developed various cultural symbols. Molecular versions, such as the trefoil knot, the Solomon knot, and the Boromimen ring (Figure 2).

Nobel Prize, molecular machine

Figure 2: a. Jean-Pierre Sovich created a trilobal knot molecule. This symbol appears in the Celtic Cross, the Stone Carvings, and the depiction of Quake; in Christianity, it represents the Trinity. b. The Boromien ring constructed by J. Fraser Stoddart. It appears on ancient Scandinavian stone paintings and also represents the Trinity. c. The Solomon knot molecule built by Stoddart and Sorwich, this pattern symbolizes the wisdom of King Solomon. It is often used in Islam and has also appeared in Roman mosaics.

However, the beautiful molecular knot is just a sideline of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry – back to the molecular machine.

Out of the first step towards the molecular motor

Jean-Pierre Sovich quickly realized that molecular chains (called "hydrocarbons", catennes) are not just a new class of molecules. He realized that he had taken the first step in creating a molecular machine. In order for a machine to complete a task, it must contain several parts that can operate with each other. Two interlocking rings are available to meet this requirement. In 1994, the research team of Jean-Pierre Sovich succeeded in constructing a hydrocarbon, one of which can be controlled to rotate around the other ring after receiving energy. This is the initial prototype of a non-biological molecular machine.

Another chemist built a second molecular machine prototype. The chemist grew up in a farm in Scotland without electricity or any modern facilities.

Fraser Stoddart has chained a molecular ring to a molecular axis

Stoddart didn't watch TV or play computer games when he was a child. The jigsaw puzzle used to pass the time gave him the training a chemist needed: identify the shapes and find out how they fit together. He is also attracted to a possibility in chemistry, that is, he can become a molecular artist - carved out of the world, no one has ever seen a shape.

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