近日，德国柏林洪堡大学Michael Kathan团队实现了分子机器指导链烷的合成。该项研究成果发表在2025年7月31日出版的《科学》杂志上。

由于随机的热运动，对分子进行精确的机械操作本来就很困难。尽管在分子尺度上的定向运动已经实现，但将特定的——尤其是能量上不利的——形状强加于分子并构建机械连锁结构仍然是一个根本性的挑战。

研究组报告了一种由分子马达驱动的连环烷的合成，该马达将分子链缠绕成离散的纠缠结构，每个结构由特定数量的机械交叉定义。光能驱动单向电机旋转，实现对一系列热力学不利但机械上不同且动力学稳定的缠绕状态的路径依赖控制，这些缠绕状态被共价捕获并随后释放以产生链烷。这种机器导向的方法为机械互锁分子的无模板构建提供了一种通用的概念验证策略。

附：英文原文

Title: A molecular machine directs the synthesis of a catenane

Author: Tommy Wachsmuth, Robert Kluifhooft, Mira Müller, Leon Zei, Michael Kathan

Issue&Volume: 2025-07-31

Abstract: Precise mechanical manipulation of molecules is inherently difficult owing to random thermal motion. Although directed movement on the molecular scale has been achieved, using it to impose specific—especially energetically disfavored—shapes on molecules and construct mechanically interlocked structures remains a fundamental challenge. In this study, we report the synthesis of a catenane enabled by a molecular motor that winds molecular strands into discrete entangled structures, each defined by a specific number of mechanical crossings. Light energy drives unidirectional motor rotation, enabling path-dependent control over a sequence of thermodynamically disfavored yet mechanically distinct and kinetically stable winding states, which are covalently captured and subsequently released to yield a catenane. This machine-directed approach offers a general proof-of-concept strategy for the template-free construction of mechanically interlocked molecules.

DOI: adx5363

Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adx5363