Video: Top story: Sauvage, Stoddart and Feringa share 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, Oct. 5(Greenpost)– The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016 has been awarded to Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J Fraser Stoddart and Bernard Feringa for their design and production of molucular machines, announced Göran Hasson, Secretary General Of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm on Wednesday.

“The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016 to

Jean-Pierre Sauvage,
University of Strasbourg, France

Sir J. Fraser Stoddart
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

and Bernard L. Feringa
University of Groningen, the Netherlands

“for the design and synthesis of molecular machines” “.

thumb_dsc_3337_1024Professor Sara Snogerup Linse,  Chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry said  they developed the world’s smallest machines.

They have developed molecules with controllable movements, which can perform a task when energy is added.

 

According to the Nobel Committee, the development of computing demonstrates how the miniaturisation of technology can lead to a revolution. The 2016 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry have miniaturised machines and taken chemistry to a new dimension.

The first step towards a molecular machine was taken by Jean-Pierre Sauvage in 1983, when he succeeded in linking two ring-shaped molecules together to form a chain, called a catenane. Normally, molecules are joined by strong covalent bonds in which the atoms share electrons, but in the chain they were instead linked by a freer mechanical bond. For a machine to be able to perform a task it must consist of parts that can move relative to each other. The two interlocked rings fulfilled exactly this requirement.

The second step was taken by Fraser Stoddart in 1991, when he developed a rotaxane. He threaded a molecular ring onto a thin molecular axle and demonstrated that the ring was able to move along the axle. Among his developments based on rotaxanes are a molecular lift, a molecular muscle and a molecule-based computer chip.

Bernard Feringa was the first person to develop a molecular motor; in 1999 he got a molecular rotor blade to spin continually in the same direction. Using molecular motors, he has rotated a glass cylinder that is 10,000 times bigger than the motor and also designed a nanocar.

2016’s Nobel Laureates in Chemistry have taken molecular systems out of equilibrium’s stalemate and into energyfilled states in which their movements can be controlled. In terms of development, the molecular motor is at the same stage as the electric motor was in the 1830s, when scientists displayed various spinning cranks and wheels, unaware that they would lead to electric trains, washing machines, fans and food processors. Molecular machines will most likely be used in the development of things such as new materials, sensors and energy storage systems.

Jean-Pierre Sauvage, born 1944 in Paris, France. Ph.D. 1971 from the University of Strasbourg, France. Professor Emeritus at the University of Strasbourg and Director of Research Emeritus at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), France.

https://isis.unistra.fr/laboratory-of-inorganic-chemistry-jean-pierre-sauvage

Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, born 1942 in Edinburgh, UK. Ph.D. 1966 from  Edinburgh University, UK. Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.

http://stoddart.northwestern.edu

Bernard L. Feringa, born 1951 in Barger-Compascuum, the Netherlands. Ph.D.1978 from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Professor in Organic Chemistry at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands.

www.benferinga.com

The three laureates will equally share the 8 million Swedish krona prize.

The prize awarding time will be on December 10. Tomorrow the Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced.

 

 

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