Solar-Powered Molecular Crystal Motor Based on an Anthracene–Thiazolidinedione Photoisomerization Reaction
Kevin Lam, Veronica Carta, Mohammed Almtiri, Ibraheem Bushnak, Imadul Islam, Rabih O. Al‐Kaysi, Christopher J. Bardeen
Abstract
Assembling molecular machines into crystals provides a way to harness their power on large length scales, but the development of a crystal analogue to a molecular motor remains a challenge. The molecule ( Z )-5-(anthracen-9-ylmethylene)-3-butylthiazolidine-2,4-dione ( C4-ATD ) has E and Z isomers with strongly overlapping absorption spectra. This spectroscopic property allows both Z → E and E → Z photoisomerization reactions to be driven by a single light source, and simulations indicate this property can provide a route to robust oscillatory motion. Reprecipitation in an aqueous surfactant enables the growth of single crystal microwires that exhibit continuous mechanical oscillations under a wide range of illumination conditions, including ambient solar irradiation. Molecular crystal motors provide a new approach for transforming continuous light into oscillatory mechanical motion.