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Updated: Aug 25, 2025

Light-driven Molecular Motors on Surfaces for Single Molecular Imaging
Published on: March 13, 2019
Indane Based Molecular Motors: UV-Switching Increases Number of Isomers
Valeriy P Shendrikov1,2, Anna S Alekseeva1, Erik F Kot1
1Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic, Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, GSP-7, Ulitsa Miklukho-Maklaya, 16/10, 117997 Moscow, Russia.
Abstract:
We describe azophenylindane based molecular motors (aphin-switches) which have two different rotamers of trans-configuration and four different rotamers of cis-configuration. The behaviors of these motors were investigated both experimentally and computationally. The conversion of aphin-switch does not yield single isomer but a mixture of these. Although the trans to cis conversion leads to the increase of the system entropy some of the cis-rotamers can directly convert to each other while others should convert via trans-configuration. The motion of aphin-switches resembles the work of a mixing machine with indane group serving as a base and phenol group serving as a beater. The aphin-switches presented herein may provide a basis for promising applications in advanced biological systems or particularly in cases where on demand disordering of molecular packing has value, such as lipid bilayers.
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