A molecular 'walker' can be made to move up and down a molecular 'track' by alternately locking and unlocking the two different types of covalent bonds that join the two components together. By changing the conditions under which one of the bond-forming/bond-breaking processes occurs, a directional bias for walking can be achieved.
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Otto, S. Tiny steps. Nature Chem 2, 75–76 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.525
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.525