Chiral Hydrogen Bond Environment Providing Unidirectional Rotation in Photoactive Molecular Motors.
Generation of a chiral hydrogen bond environment in efficient molecular photoswitches is proposed as a novel strategy for the design of photoactive molecular motors. Here, the following strategy is used to design a retinal-based motor presenting singular properties: (i) a single excitation wavelength is needed to complete the unidirectional rotation process (360°); (ii) the absence of any thermal step permits the process to take place at low temperatures; and (iii) the ultrafast process permits high rotational frequencies.
†Departamento de Quı́mica Fı́sica, Universidad de Alcalá, E-28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.|‡Departamento de Quı́mica, Centro de Investigación en Sı́ntesis Química (CISQ), Madre de Dios 51, E-26006 Logroño, Spain.
Cristina
C
García-Iriepa
†Departamento de Quı́mica Fı́sica, Universidad de Alcalá, E-28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
Marco
M
Marazzi
†Departamento de Quı́mica Fı́sica, Universidad de Alcalá, E-28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
Felipe
F
Zapata
†Departamento de Quı́mica Fı́sica, Universidad de Alcalá, E-28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
Alessio
A
Valentini
‡Departamento de Quı́mica, Centro de Investigación en Sı́ntesis Química (CISQ), Madre de Dios 51, E-26006 Logroño, Spain.
Diego
D
Sampedro
†Departamento de Quı́mica Fı́sica, Universidad de Alcalá, E-28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
Luis Manuel
LM
Frutos
CASPT2; CASSCF; chiral hydrogen bond environment; molecular devices design; multiconfigurational methods; photoactive molecular motors; unidirectional rotation