David Leigh (scientist)

David Leigh
Nationality British
Fields Organic chemistry
Institutions University of Manchester
University of Edinburgh
University of Warwick
University of Sheffield
Alma mater University of Sheffield (BSc, PhD)
Thesis The synthesis and properties of novel and natural macrocyclic trichothecenes (1987)
Doctoral advisor Sir Fraser Stoddart[1]
Known for Catenanes, Rotaxanes, Molecular knots, Molecular machines
Notable awards Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology (2007)
Website
www.catenane.net

David Alan Leigh FRS FRSE FRSC is a British chemist and currently the Sir Samuel Hall Chair of Chemistry at the University of Manchester. He was previously the Forbes Chair of Organic Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh (2001-2012) and Professor of Synthetic Chemistry at the University of Warwick (1998-2001).[2][3]

He is noted for the development of new methods to construct rotaxanes, catenanes and molecular knots and for the invention of some of the first synthetic molecular motors and functional nanomachines. Using mechanically-interlocked molecular architectures he prepared a novel molecular information ratchet that employs a mechanism reminiscent of Maxwell's demon (although it requires an energy input and so does not challenge the second law of thermodynamics).[4]

Research

He has developed a rotaxane based photoactive molecular switch with the capability of changing the hydrophobicity of a surface and thus causing small droplets of liquid to move "uphill," against the force of gravity.[5]

In 2009 he reported the first small-molecule walker-track system in which a ‘walker’ can be transported directionally along a short molecular track in a manner reminiscent of the way that biological motor proteins ‘walk’ along biopolymers in the cell.[6] In 2011 his research group described the smallest molecular knot prepared to date (a 76-atom-loop trefoil knot - three crossing points[7]) and also the most complex non-DNA molecular knot yet constructed (a 160-atom-loop pentafoil knot - five crossing points[8]). In 2013 the Leigh group reported[9] a small-molecule machine capable of detaching and assembling a series of amino acid building blocks from a track into a peptide of specific sequence, a very primitive version of the task performed by the ribosome.

Honors

See also

References

  1. ↑ "2009 winner of the RSC Merck Award". Royal Society of Chemistry. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  2. ↑ Kay, E. R.; Leigh, D. A.; Zerbetto, F. (2007). "Synthetic Molecular Motors and Mechanical Machines". Angewandte Chemie International Edition 46: 72–191. doi:10.1002/anie.200504313.
  3. ↑ Brouwer, A. M.; Frochot, C.; Gatti, F. G.; Leigh, D. A.; Mottier, L.; Paolucci, F.; Roffia, S.; Wurpel, G. W. (2001). "Photoinduction of Fast, Reversible Translational Motion in a Hydrogen-Bonded Molecular Shuttle". Science 291 (5511): 2124–2128. doi:10.1126/science.1057886. PMID 11251112.
  4. ↑ "Tiny engine boosts nanotech hopes" BBC News Feb. 1, 2007
  5. ↑ "Nanotech team move water droplets" BBC News Aug. 29, 2005
  6. ↑ http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2009/December/21120901.asp "'Two-legged' molecular walker takes a stroll" Chemistry World Dec. 21, 2009
  7. ↑ Barran, P. E.; Cole, H. L.; Goldup, S. M.; Leigh, D. A.; McGonigal, P. R.; Symes, M. D.; Wu, J.; Zengerle, M. (2011). "Active-Metal Template Synthesis of a Molecular Trefoil Knot". Angewandte Chemie International Edition 50 (51): 12280–12284. doi:10.1002/anie.201105012.
  8. ↑ Ayme, J. F. O.; Beves, J. E.; Leigh, D. A.; McBurney, R. T.; Rissanen, K.; Schultz, D. (2011). "A synthetic molecular pentafoil knot". Nature Chemistry 4 (1): 15–20. doi:10.1038/nchem.1193. PMID 22169866.
  9. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20987065

External links

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