FOM workgroup leader Ben Feringa wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016
RUG researcher Bernard Feringa has won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016. His fellow laureates are the Frenchman Jean-Pierre Sauvage and the American researcher James-Fraser Stoddart. The three scientists were awarded the prize for the design and synthesis of molecular machines.
Ben Feringa works at the University of Groningen and is a FOM workgroup leader. FOM warmly congratulates Feringa with this enormous achievement.
Ben Feringa
Feringa received his PhD in Groningen in 1978. After working for Shell for a number of years, he returned to the University of Groningen as a professor of Organic Chemistry in 1988. Feringa is vice president of the KNAW, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as the Chair of the NWO Chemical Sciences Board.
Molecular nanomachines
The three laureates have developed and produced the world's smallest machine: molecular nanomachines. This means that they developed molecules with controllable movements, which can perform a task. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences emphasizes that the miniaturisation of technology can lead to a technological revolution. The laureates have " taken chemistry to a new dimension", says the committee.
The path to nanomachines
The first step towards a molecular machine was taken by Jean-Pierre Sauvage in 1983, when he succeeded in linking two ring-shaped molecules together to form a chain. The molecules were not joined by covalent bonds, but mechanically. This allowed for more movement, which is a requisite for molecular machines.
The second step was taken by Fraser Stoddart in 1991, when he managed to thread a molecular ring onto a molecular axle. The ring was able to move along the axle. This crucial step lead to the development of a molecular lift, a molecular muscle and a molecule-based computer chip.
Finally, Ben Feringa achieved the ultimate goal: in 1999 he developed the first ever molecular motor. He got a molecular rotor blade to spin continually in the same direction. The molecular motors are surprisingly strong: using the motors, Feringa managed to rotate a glass cylinder that is 10,000 times bigger than the motors themselves.
Applications
"[Feringa's] discovery in 1999 of the 'molecular motor', a light-driven rotating molecule, is widely recognized as a world-class breakthrough", states the University of Groningen. "The potential applications of this concept are as numerous as they are spectacular. The idea that molecular motors can transport themselves through the bloodstream in order to deliver drugs to previously unreachable locations in the human body with a high degree of accuracy is particularly inspiring."
More information:
- Feringa presents his nanovehicles (video, English subtitles).
- FOM news item from 2011: Molecular motor acts as a switch for enantiomer-selective reactions
- FOM news item about UVA research on nanomachines: Water found to be an ideal lubricant for nanomachines