ERROR 1
ERROR 1
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
Password and Confirm password must match.
If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)
ERROR 2
ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.
Lubrication is often key to getting a mechanical machine to work smoothly. For molecular machines that spin or ratchet through chemical reactions, lubrication takes on a new meaning. By experimenting with a molecular shuttle in acetonitrile and a wheel-and-axle device in pyridine, scientists have found that a small amount of water added to the solvents accelerates the amide-based machines’ movement, likely through hydrogen-bonding effects (Nat. Chem. 2013, DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1744). The team was led by Sander Woutersen and Matthijs R. Panman of the University of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, and David A. Leigh of the University of Manchester, in England. Other additives capable of hydrogen bonding, such as methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, and tert-butyl alcohol, did not have the same effect. The researchers hypothesize that water’s small size and ability to form hydrogen bonds in multiple directions allows it to form and quickly rearrange hydrogen-bond networks between the moving parts of the machines to stabilize CO and NH groups. In that way, water facilitates—or “lubricates”—machine movement.
Join the conversation
Contact the reporter
Submit a Letter to the Editor for publication
Engage with us on Twitter