Mechanically Processive Motion in Synthetic Molecular-level Structures: Transition Metal Complexes that can Walk!

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The aim of this research project is to make molecular motors and machines which, like many biological motors and machines, move along tracks. The machines we use in everyday life are made up of assemblies of moving parts (cogs, wheels, spindles, pistons etc), the movement of each of which is used to perform a task necessary for the overall function of the machine. But what happens when we try to make such things very small, can we make molecular-sized machines? The answer is yes, but their designs are not simple or obvious. Our intuition, formed by the everyday observation of the way large machines work, fails when we consider molecular-sized structures. Macroscopic objects remain stationary until given a push / an energy input / but molecular sized objects are constantly in motion (Brownian motion) and energy must be expended to stop them moving, or to cause them to move in one direction only. For this reason, scaling down motors and engines from the macroscopic world to the molecular level simply does not work, we have to find another solution. For this project we propose to follow a strategy that biology has found through billions of years of evolution, i.e. make machines that move along tracks, exploiting rather than resisting Brownian motion. The ultimate outcome of the proposal could be a generation of artificial nanomachines capable of transporting a tiny cargo on molecular length scales.