Issue 38, 2017

Light-induced piston nanoengines: ultrafast shuttling of a styryl dye inside cucurbit[7]uril

Abstract

The combination of photoactive styryl(pyridinium) dyes and cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]) in an integrated supramolecular system allowed us to design a novel high speed molecular machine based on the fully reversible shuttling motion of the dye inside the CB[7] host cavity. The driving force of this movement is the electrostatic potential change after the occurrence of intramolecular charge transfer in the excited state of the dye molecule that can be externally controlled by light. Steady-state and time-resolved optical spectroscopy as well as DFT calculations provided an unambiguous evidence for the ultrafast piston-like movement of the system between two states. The shuttling process occurs in the picosecond timescale and its bistability depends on the strength of the dye donor fragment.

Graphical abstract: Light-induced piston nanoengines: ultrafast shuttling of a styryl dye inside cucurbit[7]uril

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
26 juin 2017
Accepted
07 sept. 2017
First published
08 sept. 2017

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2017,19, 25834-25839

Light-induced piston nanoengines: ultrafast shuttling of a styryl dye inside cucurbit[7]uril

E. Y. Chernikova, D. V. Berdnikova, Y. V. Fedorov, O. A. Fedorova, F. Maurel and G. Jonusauskas, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2017, 19, 25834 DOI: 10.1039/C7CP04283C

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