Biting its own tail: Nanocontainer with an integrated switch

(PhysOrg.com) -- The ouroboros (ancient Greek for "tail devourer") is a motif found in many cultures: a snake biting its own tail, it symbolizes eternity and cycles. Julius Rebek, Jr. and Fabien Durola (The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla) have now constructed a molecular tail devourer, and have named this new class of compound "ouroborand". As the researchers report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, their tail-biter is a molecular "machine", which functions as a nanocontainer with a built-in switch that regulates access to the cavity.

Read the whole article on Physorg

More from Physorg