Surface‐Decoupled Altitudinal and Azimuthal Triptycene‐Fused Tetrapodal Molecular Motors

K Kateřina Bezděková (Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences Flemingovo nám. 2 Prague 6 160 00 Czech Republic) L Lukáš Severa (Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences Flemingovo nám. 2 Prague 6 160 00 Czech Republic) E Eva Kaletová (Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences Flemingovo nám. 2 Prague 6 160 00 Czech Republic) K Katarina Majerová Varga (Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences Flemingovo nám. 2 Prague 6 160 00 Czech Republic) M Milan Mašát (Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences Flemingovo nám. 2 Prague 6 160 00 Czech Republic) L Liang‐Ting Wu (Department of Chemical System Engineering School of Engineering The University of Tokyo Bunkyo‐ku Tokyo Japan) J Jyh‐Chiang Jiang (Department of Chemical Engineering Sustainable Electrochemical Energy Development (SEED) Center National Taiwan University of Science and Technology Taipei Taiwan) I Ivana Císařová J Jiří Kaleta (Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences Flemingovo nám. 2 Prague 6 160 00 Czech Republic)

Abstract

Abstract Two light‐driven molecular motors, fused to a triptycene‐based tetrapodal platform, with rotational axes oriented either parallel or perpendicular to the surface, were successfully designed and synthesized. Both systems demonstrated complete 360° rotation cycles, efficient photoswitching at 385 ± 5 nm (reaching ∼90% at the photostationary state), and quantitative thermal helix inversion with half‐lives of ∼7 min at 20 °C. When assembled as monolayers on gold surfaces, the motors retained their full rotational functionality, demonstrating the ability of the tetrapodal platform to minimize surface interactions. These findings highlight the potential of these systems for applications in surface‐integrated molecular devices and machines.

Article Details

Volume / Issue Vol. 65, Issue 2
Published January 09, 2026
ISSN 1433-7851
Publisher Wiley

Journal Info

Angewandte Chemie International Edition

Wiley

ISSN: 1433-7851 Physical Sciences

Authors (9)

K

Kateřina Bezděková

Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences Flemingovo nám. 2 Prague 6 160 00 Czech Republic

L

Lukáš Severa

Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences Flemingovo nám. 2 Prague 6 160 00 Czech Republic

E

Eva Kaletová

Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences Flemingovo nám. 2 Prague 6 160 00 Czech Republic

K

Katarina Majerová Varga

Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences Flemingovo nám. 2 Prague 6 160 00 Czech Republic

M

Milan Mašát

Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences Flemingovo nám. 2 Prague 6 160 00 Czech Republic

L

Liang‐Ting Wu

Department of Chemical System Engineering School of Engineering The University of Tokyo Bunkyo‐ku Tokyo Japan

J

Jyh‐Chiang Jiang

Department of Chemical Engineering Sustainable Electrochemical Energy Development (SEED) Center National Taiwan University of Science and Technology Taipei Taiwan

I

Ivana Císařová

J

Jiří Kaleta

Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences Flemingovo nám. 2 Prague 6 160 00 Czech Republic