title: Synthetic Molecular Motors: Thermal N Inversion and Directional Photoinduced C=N Bond Rotation of Camphorquinone Imines.
abstract: The thermal and photochemical E/Z isomerization of camphorquinone-derived imines was studied by a combination of kinetic, structural, and computational methods. The thermal isomerization proceeds by linear N inversion, whereas the photoinduced process occurs through C=N bond rotation with preferred directionality as a result of diastereoisomerism. Thereby, these imines are arguably the simplest example of synthetic molecular motors. The generality of the orthogonal trajectories of the thermal and photochemical pathways allows for the postulation that every suitable chiral imine qualifies, in principle, as a molecular motor driven by light or heat.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Science et d'Ingénierie Supramoléculaires (ISIS), Université de Strasbourg, 8 allée Gaspard Monge, Strasbourg 67000 (France).|Institut für Nanotechnologie (INT), Karlsruhe Institut für Technologie, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany).
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Greb
authors.affiliation: Institut für Nanotechnologie (INT), Karlsruhe Institut für Technologie, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany).
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eichhöfer
authors.affiliation: Institut de Science et d'Ingénierie Supramoléculaires (ISIS), Université de Strasbourg, 8 allée Gaspard Monge, Strasbourg 67000 (France). lehn@unistra.fr.
authors.forename: Jean-Marie
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lehn
keywords: density functional calculations; imines; isomerization; molecular motors; photochemistry