Rotaxanes and catenanes as prototypes of
molecular machines and motors*
C. Dietrich-Buchecker, M.C. Jimenez-Molero, V. Sartor, and J.-P. Sauvage
Laboratoire de Chimie Organo-Minerale, UMR 7513 CNRS,
Facult� de Chimie, Universit� Louis Pasteur, 4 rue Blaise Pascal, 67070
Strasbourg Cedex, France
Abstract: In the course of the last 20 years, our view on rotaxanes
and catenanes has completely changed. Copper(I)-templated strategies,
in particular, have allowed us to prepare catenanes on a real preparative
scale, in a few chemical steps from commercially available compounds.
A particularly significant improvement was the introduction of the recently
developed ring-closing metathesis reaction, using Grubbs catalyst. The
dynamic properties of rotaxanes and catenanes has been exploited to
construct molecular systems for which one component can be set in motion
under the action of an external signal, while the other components can
be considered as motionless (artificial molecular �machines �and �motors
�). A particularly representative example is that of a rotaxane dimer,
whose overall length can be controlled chemically: A metal exchange
reaction (CuI/ZnII) triggers a reversible contraction/stretching
process of the same molecular assembly, in a way reminiscent of the
functioning of biological muscles.
*Lecture presented at the IUPAC Polymer Conference
on the Mission and Challenges of Polymer Science and Technology (IUPAC
PC2002), Kyoto, Japan, 2-5 December 2002. Other presentations are published
in this issue, pp. 1359-1402.
Page last modified 30 September 2003.
Copyright © 2003 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
Questions or comments about IUPAC, please contact, the Secretariat.
Questions regarding the website, please contact web
manager.