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Australian Journal of Chemistry Australian Journal of Chemistry Society
An international journal for chemical science
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Mimicking the Motion of Life: Catalytically Active Rotaxanes as Processive Enzyme Mimics

Pall Thordarson, Roeland J. M. Nolte and Alan E. Rowan

Australian Journal of Chemistry 57(4) 323 - 327
Published: 02 April 2004

Abstract

An often overlooked but essential architectural motif found in all living organisms is that of the toroid. Through evolution, nature has used the threading of biopolymers through toroidal assemblies, forming pseudo-rotaxanes, to impart a processive character on the synthesis, replication, repair, and even recombination of DNA. In spite of the fact that numerous processive enzymes have been reported and that life would not exist without such natural rotaxanes, there are virtually no examples of synthetic processive catalysts let alone biomimetic models of these essential and potentially useful systems. To rectify this omission we describe below our recent construction and study of the first catalytic rotaxane molecular machine, which can run along a polymer thread and carry out processive oxidative reactions.

Keywords: catalysis— nanomachines— oxidation— rotaxanes— self-assembly

https://doi.org/10.1071/CH03302

© CSIRO 2004

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