The foundation of a light driven molecular muscle based on stilbene and α-cyclodextrin

摘要

The rotaxane 3(E,E) serves as the basis of a light driven molecular muscle, where reversible photoisomerisation of the stilbene units causes the cyclodextrins to move off and on the stilbene units, contracting and extending the distance between the blocking groups.rnIn nature, biological machines perform tasks that enable life to proceed. For example, the contraction and expansion of muscle fibres, caused by the simultaneous sliding of the stacked filaments of the myosin and actin upon chemical stimulation by ATP hydrolysis, enables our controlled movement. In the pursuit of nanoscale machines, chemists are inspired to mimic nature, to produce synthetic structures that perform tasks at our discretion. Recently, examples of molecular mimics of muscle fibres have appeared in the literature. Methods for synthesising these have centred on the formation of [2]-rotaxanes, which are well-suited for the construction of molecular machines as the relative motions of their mechanically interlocked components can be controlled.