2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Conferring Molecular Machines as Engines of Creativity

摘要

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the year 2016 was awardedto three illustrious chemists, Professors Jean-Pierre Sauvage,Sir Fraser Stoddart, and Ben Feringa. Pioneering works ofthese chemists on designing molecules, chemically synthesizingthem, and extracting a work out of such designedmoleculesopen-up a new area of chemistry in a paradigm shifting manner.Beginning with controlling the molecular motions, particularlyinvolving interlocked macrocycles in late 1980s, theadvancement progressed to envelop energy storage and retrieval,and varieties of examples around the concept. Molecularmotion alone can also be a rich source for such a workoutput has also been established. These developments possessthe required momentum to uncover a new area of chemistry,wherein energy input-output can be used beneficially to conducta useful work, in a close analogy to machines such as anelectric motor.