Challenging a Central Dogma of Chemistry: Energy Flow in Chemical Reactions
upstart writes in with an IRC submission:
Challenging a central dogma of chemistry: Energy flow in chemical reactions:
The findings violate a central dogma of chemistry, that molecular diffusion and chemical reaction are unrelated. To observe that molecules are energized by chemical reaction is "new and unknown," said Granick. "When one substance transforms to another by breaking and forming bonds, this actually makes the molecules move more rapidly. It's as if the chemical reactions stir themselves naturally."
"Currently, Nature does an excellent job of producing molecular machines but in the natural world scientists have not understood well enough how to design this property," said Wang. "Beyond curiosity to understand the world, we hope that practically this can become useful in guiding thinking about transducing chemical energy for molecular motion in liquids, for nanorobotics, precision medicine and greener material synthesis."
The unexpected ripples generated by chemical reactions, especially when catalyzed (accelerated by substances not themselves consumed), propagate long-range. For chemists and physicists, this work challenges the textbook view that molecular motion and chemical reaction are decoupled, and that reactions affect only the nearby vicinity. For engineers, this work shows a powerful new approach to design nanomotors at the truly molecular level.
[...] Wang remarked with enthusiasm: "Now, we're like a baby taking her first steps and there's so much exciting opportunity to grow this baby."
[...] Granick concluded: "The field of active materials, quite new and growing fast, is enriched by this discovery that chemical reactions behave as nanoswimmers made of individual molecules that stir up the reaction soup. The concept of active materials has shown its value in challenging a central dogma of chemistry."
Journal Reference:
Huan Wang, Myeonggon Park, Ruoyu Dong, et al. Boosted molecular mobility during common chemical reactions [$], Science (DOI: 10.1126/science.aba8425)
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