The "molecular abacus" of "made in Shanghai": the original "molecular machine" in China is also very good

Perhaps the power of chemistry is not just to understand, but to create, to create molecules and substances that never existed ——This year, the Nobel Prize winner, Bernard Feringa, revealed a "cold door" this year, which was awarded to the "molecular machine" belonging to the category of "pure chemistry" The previous Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to interdisciplinary subjects, such as biology, physics, biochemistry and biophysics Professor Jean Pierre Sauvage of the University of Strasbourg in France, Sir James Fraser Stoddart of Northwestern University in the United States and Professor Bernard Feringa of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands jointly won the most important Nobel Prize In this field, China also has the leading level in the world Tian He, academician of East China University of science and technology, is engaged in the research field of "design and synthesis of molecular machines" Winning the Nobel Prize in this field will help to realize commercial application as soon as possible Tian He, academician of East China University of science and technology It is worth mentioning that two of the three professors who have won the Nobel Prize in chemistry have a deep relationship with China For example, East China University of science and technology in Shanghai has an international leading research team in the field of "molecular machines" The academician team of Huali Tianhe has close cooperation and exchange with three new Jinnuo prize winners in academic research Professor Stoddart visited Huali in 2005 and 2007, and was employed as an honorary professor of Huali Professor Feringa also visited Huali in 2007 and will be invited to attend the 2016 International Conference on photochromism in Shanghai next month He is also the co tutor of Professor Qu Dahui, vice president of Huali School of chemistry, during his post doctoral work in the Netherlands Dr Zhang Junji of East China University of science and technology said: "broadly speaking, the meaning of molecular machine comes from nature Just like the ATPase in life, it is a natural device for conducting and using matter and energy This award-winning artificial molecular machine is a functional molecular or chemical system constructed by means of synthesis and chemical modification In general, molecular machine is a collection of functional chemical components based on Synthesis and supramolecular assembly Its purpose is to simulate the macroscopic working mode of machine, reproduce and produce effect from the microcosmic Zhang Junji is currently working in the Tian He research group of Huali According to him, academician Tian He's research achievements in the field of "design and synthesis of molecular machines" are also awarded the Nobel Prize As early as 2004, the team led by academician Tian He designed "molecular shuttle" and "molecular abacus" with diameter smaller than hair And then we use fluorescence to sense its movement track, so that glucose molecules can generate computing and even thinking ability, so as to step into a solid step in the peak research field of "simulating life to help people recover physical strength or repair damaged memory" This "made in Shanghai" molecular machine, explained in popular language, is like wearing a bottomless bucket on a stick Under the action of some external force, the bucket can slide left and right Of course, it's a billion times bigger Through the fluorescence spectrometer, we can feel its difficulty coefficient: "stick" is made of azo or styrene molecules, "bucket" is made of 6-7 glucose molecules "hand in hand" cyclodextrin molecules, and the bucket mouth diameter is only 0.6Nm Academician Tian He uses light drive to make the "bucket" obtain kinetic energy under the irradiation of ultraviolet light, or shuttle back and forth on the "stick" left or right, thus a micro "molecular shuttle" is born The combination of "stick + bucket" is quite similar to the abacus Under the "adjustment" of academician Tian He, the "molecular shuttle" learned the simple arithmetic of "plus 2" or "minus 2", and became a "molecular abacus" with original calculation function According to academician Tian He, once the "molecular abacus" is developed, computers can be upgraded to "molecular brain" with larger capacity and faster calculation, so as to get rid of the limit bondage of "Moore's law" At present, this "made in Shanghai" molecular machine has become one of the most advanced in the world, and its original fluorescence detection method has become a common characterization method used by scientists all over the world As Professor Donna Nelson of the American Chemical Society said: "the world pays great attention to the Nobel Prize The Nobel Prize will also affect the future research direction of the scientific community and make the field of molecular machinery flourish More and more researchers will flock to this field and attract more funds to invest in it So the application should be faster than expected "