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To harness the potential of rotary molecular systems (RMSs), it is basic to operate beyond thermodynamic equilibrium, requiring a continuous energy input. Light, due to its abundance, noninvasive nature, and precise spatial and temporal control, serves as an ideal energy source. This review highlights recent advances in bioinspired light‐driven RMSs, with a particular focus on strategies to shift their activation wavelengths from UV to the visible and near‐infrared regions through tailored structural modifications. A range of photochemical mechanisms underlying these systems, from reversible switching to unidirectional rotation, including emerging hybrid mechanisms that integrate multiple photophysical and/or chemical processes to achieve complex multistates behavior is discussed. Furthermore, it is explored that how specific molecular designs impact key photo‐efficiency such as quantum yield and photostationary state distribution. These insights offer guiding principles to enhance the efficiency and functionality of RMSs and pave the way toward their integration in biomedical technologies requiring light‐responsive control, such as targeted drug delivery and advanced imaging systems.
Hortigüela et al. (Sun,) studied this question.