Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 11, 2025

Light-driven Molecular Motors on Surfaces for Single Molecular Imaging
Published on: March 13, 2019
Unidirectional Rotary Motion in Isotopically Chiral Molecular Motors: A Computational Analysis
Jun Wang1,2, Baswanth Oruganti3, Bo Durbeej1
1Division of Theoretical Chemistry, IFM, Linköping University, SE-58183 Linköping, Sweden.
Abstract:
Molecular dynamics simulations are performed to explore if isotopic chirality can induce unidirectional rotary motion in molecular motors operated through double-bond photoisomerizations. Using a high-quantum yield motor featuring a chemically asymmetric carbon atom as reference, it is found that isotopically chiral counterparts of this motor sustain such motion almost equally well. Overall, the study reveals a previously unexplored role for isotopic chirality in the design of rotary molecular motors.
Related Concept Videos
Mechanism of Ciliary Motion
The cilia are made up of microtubules in a 9+2 arrangement, with nine microtubule doublet ring bundles, surrounding a pair of central singlet microtubule bundles. The doublet microtubule bundles are...
Properties of Enantiomers and Optical Activity
Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers
Chirality in Nature
Rotational Motion about a Fixed Axis
Chirality
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...

