Rotaxanes as new architectures for photoinduced electron transfer and molecular motions

Rotaxanes are molecular architectures ideally suited for building integrated, multicomponent modular systems, displaying novel chemical and physical properties. In this new field of functional rotaxanes, those incorporating transition metals, which are incidentally used as synthetic templates, are particularly attractive for their photophysical and electronic properties as well as their dynamic behaviour. It is believed that they will provide, in the future, the basic elements for constructing nanoscale machines and motors.