Jean-Pierre Sauvage

Jean-Pierre Sauvage is a French chemist whose work pioneered the synthesis of mechanically interlocked molecules, including molecular chains and machines. He shared the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Mechanically interlocked molecule: A molecule whose components are linked by their spatial arrangement rather than solely by covalent bonds. This is the molecular class Sauvage helped establish as a field of synthesis.
Template-directed synthesis: A synthesis strategy in which a temporary organizing component directs the formation of a target molecular architecture. Metal-ion templates positioned Sauvage’s molecular fragments for ring closure.
Jean-Marie Lehn: A French chemist who developed supramolecular chemistry and shared the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Sauvage conducted doctoral research in Lehn’s Strasbourg laboratory.
J. Fraser Stoddart: A Scottish-American chemist whose work on mechanically interlocked molecules earned the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Stoddart shared the Nobel Prize with Sauvage for developing molecular machines.
Catenane: A molecule composed of two or more interlocked rings that cannot be separated without breaking a covalent bond. Sauvage’s template-directed synthesis made catenanes accessible in substantial yields.
Copper(I): The +1 oxidation state of copper, which commonly forms complexes with ligands such as phenanthroline. Copper(I) coordination organized ligands in Sauvage’s pioneering catenane synthesis.
Strasbourg: A city in northeastern France and the home of the University of Strasbourg. Sauvage’s early academic work and collaboration with Lehn were based there.
Bernard L. Feringa: A Dutch chemist known for designing light-driven molecular motors and sharing the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Feringa’s molecular motors formed the third part of the Nobel-recognized research alongside Sauvage’s work.
Rotaxane: A molecule in which a ring encircles a linear component capped by groups too large for it to pass. Rotaxanes are another central mechanically interlocked architecture developed in molecular-machine research.
Phenanthroline: A nitrogen-containing aromatic ligand that binds metal ions through two nitrogen atoms. Phenanthroline units helped create the metal-coordinated assemblies used in his catenane work.

Linked from 1 page

Ben FeringaRelated: His molecular architectures formed another strand of the work recognized alongside Feringa’s.