This groundbreaking approach could revolutionize technology and medicine by leveraging sunlight to develop innovative materials, smart drugs, and dynamic systems mimicking the non-equilibrium processes in living organisms.

Harnessing Light for Molecular Manipulation

Using a creative combination of light-driven (photochemical) reactions and molecular self-assembly, a research team led by Prof. Alberto Credi at the University of Bologna has achieved a groundbreaking feat. They successfully inserted a thread-like molecule into the cavity of a ring-shaped molecule, forming a high-energy structure that would normally be impossible under thermodynamic equilibrium. In essence, light enables the creation of molecular configurations that nature cannot achieve on its own.