Abstract
Light-driven molecular motors convert light into mechanical energy via excited state reactions. In this work we follow sub-picosecond primary events in the cycle of a two-stroke unidirectional motor by fluorescence up-conversion and transient absorption.
Highlights
Light driven molecular machines are designed to convert photon energy into mechanical energy, which can often be achieved through an excited state isomerisation reaction
Key questions to be addressed include the rate of the isomerisation, its sensitivity to solvent friction, the extent to which the reaction occurs on the excited state surface and the possibility of controlling the rate of isomerisation through the use of shaped pulses
Superimposed on the fast fluorescence decay is an oscillatory component which can be analysed in terms of one highly damped (90 fs) low frequency mode (113 cm-1) and one less damped (220 fs) higher frequency mode(180 cm-1); these are illustrated in the Fourier transform
Summary
Light driven molecular machines are designed to convert photon energy into mechanical energy, which can often be achieved through an excited state isomerisation reaction. For the operation of molecular motors it is clearly essential to exercise control over the direction of motion. Unidirectional operation of light-driven molecular motors was first reported by Feringa and coworkers in their studies of chiral overcrowded alkenes (Fig. 1)[1]
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