ABSTRACT
Self-propelled objects come in all shapes and sizes. While macroscopic motors that provide propulsive force have been the subject of extensive development over centuries and are part of our daily lives, the construction and design of nanoscale molecular motors is a much more recent topic of research. Molecular machines (see, e.g., Ballardini et al. 2001, Balzani et al. 2003, Kinbara and Aida 2005, Kay et al. 2007) have components with nanoscale dimensions and a well-de ned structure designed to perform useful functions. When acting as molecular motors, such molecular machines consume energy in some form and covert it into work. In this chapter, we consider the operation of molecular motors that use chemical energy to e ect directed motion.
