CHAPTER 2 SOFT CRYSTALS AND MOLECULAR MACHINES
The crystal dancing under blue light.
The quest O to make a synthetic molecular motor
rganic chemist Yoshiyuki Kageyama never imagined crystals would make a rhythmical motion until 2013, when one of his graduate students irradiated light on them on a whim. The team was originally focusing on liquid crystals, not crystals, to make a molecular motor. “At that time, I firmly believed crystals would not move so easily,” Kageyama said, recalling the day his student, Tomonori Ikegami, reported the incidental finding. “He wondered if he should even report the observation because it had little to do with his own project. I told him this was a huge discovery. Indeed, the crystals repeatedly fluttered when subjected to visible light.”
At that time, I firmly believed crystals would not move so easily.
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HOKKAIDO UNIVERSITY