Optimizing rotary processes in synthetic molecular motors.

ABSTRACT: We deal with the issue of quantifying and optimizing the rotation dynamics of synthetic molecular motors. For this purpose, the continuous four-stage rotation behavior of a typical light-activated molecular motor was measured in detail. All reaction constants were determined empirically. Next, we developed a Markov model that describes the full motor dynamics mathematically. We derived expressions for a set of characteristic quantities, i.e., the average rate of quarter rotations or "velocity," V, the spread in the average number of quarter rotations, D, and the dimensionless Péclet number, Pe = V/D. Furthermore, we determined the rate of full, four-step rotations (Omega(eff)), from which we derived another dimensionless quantity, the "rotational excess," r.e. This quantity, defined as the

SUBMITTER: Geertsema EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2761338 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature