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Water lubricates hydrogen-bonded molecular machines

Nature Chemistry volume 5, pages 929–934 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

The mechanical behaviour of molecular machines differs greatly from that of their macroscopic counterparts. This applies particularly when considering concepts such as friction and lubrication, which are key to optimizing the operation of macroscopic machinery. Here, using time-resolved vibrational spectroscopy and NMR-lineshape analysis, we show that for molecular machinery consisting of hydrogen-bonded components the relative motion of the components is accelerated strongly by adding small amounts of water. The translation of a macrocycle along a thread and the rotation of a molecular wheel around an axle both accelerate significantly on the addition of water, whereas other protic liquids have much weaker or opposite effects. We tentatively assign the superior accelerating effect of water to its ability to form a three-dimensional hydrogen-bond network between the moving parts of the molecular machine. These results may indicate a more general phenomenon that helps explain the function of water as the ‘lubricant of life’.

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Figure 1: Operation cycle of the molecular shuttle, and the effect of adding different cosolvents on the shuttling rate.
Figure 2: Effect of added water on the rotational motion of a molecular machine.
Figure 3: Interaction of water with the molecular shuttle observed directly by steady-state and time-resolved infrared spectroscopy.
Figure 4: The presence of water speeds up the intercomponent motion of molecular machines by increasing the number of successful crossings of the transition-state barrier.

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Acknowledgements

We thank V. Bocokic for his advice on the preparation of the samples, P. Bodis for his assistance with the time-resolved measurements, J. M. Ernsting for assistance with the NMR experiments, W. van Aartsen and H. Beukers for the construction of the variable-temperature infrared cell, and H. J. Bakker for critically reading the manuscript and for valuable suggestions. This project was supported by the Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie which is financially supported by the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Van ’t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, Amsterdam, 1098 XH, The Netherlands

    Matthijs R. Panman, Bert H. Bakker, David den Uyl, Wybren Jan Buma, Albert M. Brouwer, Jan A. J. Geenevasen & Sander Woutersen

  2. School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, The King's Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JJ, UK

    Euan R. Kay & David A. Leigh

  3. School of Chemistry, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

    David A. Leigh

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  1. Matthijs R. Panman
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Contributions

M.R.P. designed and performed the experiments and analysed the data. S.W. supervised the experiments and data analysis. B.H.B. synthesized the molecular shuttle and wheel-and-axle. E.R.K. synthesized the molecular shuttle. D.d.U. assisted with time-resolved experiments. J.A.J.G. assisted with the NMR experiments. W.J.B. helped with the interpretation. D.A.L. supervised the synthesis of the molecular shuttle. A.M.B. supervised the synthesis of the molecular shuttle and wheel-and-axle and helped with the interpretation. M.R.P. and S.W. co-wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Matthijs R. Panman, David A. Leigh or Sander Woutersen.

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Panman, M., Bakker, B., den Uyl, D. et al. Water lubricates hydrogen-bonded molecular machines. Nature Chem 5, 929–934 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1744

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