From the laboratories of the Nobel Prize to Ca’ Foscari "driven by curiosity"

The development of molecular machines earned Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa the Nobel prize for chemistry. The three chemists, from the Eighties onwards in their respective laboratories, managed to move parts of molecules in a controlled way, opening the road to major innovations in fields ranging from computer science to the pharmaceutical industry.                     
"Replacing the transistors with molecules that are tens of thousands of times smaller would mean getting infinitely more powerful computers. 15 years ago Stoddart demonstrated that it is theoretically possible, and now the research focuses on the stability of these molecular circuits: the 64-bit memory made of molecules is relatively simple to implement, what is more complex is to move part of the molecule millions of times without any problems. This is what we are working on today, on the basis of the discoveries that led to the Nobel - explains Fabio Aricò, associate professor of Organic Chemistry at the Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics at Ca’ Foscari and direct connoisseur of the studies of Sauvage and Stoddart, both his supervisors during his doctoral studies and subsequent research conducted as a post-doctorate at UCLA in Los Angeles.

Fascinated by supramolecular chemistry, Aricò spent a period of research in the laboratory of The Pasteur University of Strasbourg, studying, among other things, how to control the machines molecules with light. He continued his research at the University of California, Los Angeles, in Stoddart’s group, using pH to 'drive' the molecular machines.

"Using electricity, pH, light, and the different states of oxidation of the metals, allows for a portion of molecules to be moved without affecting their structure" adds Aricò. The possible applications are numerous, the professor specifies: "The laboratories of Los Angeles got busy studying molecules, creating the knowledge base necessary for innovations. This application in the field of informatics was then developed by engineers at Caltech in Pasadena."

In 2005, Aricò returned to Italy from the United States to deal with something else: green chemistry. "I'm curious by nature – he recalls – it was the curiosity for innovative nanotechnology that brought me to the United States. Then I was fascinated by the idea of doing chemistry without producing waste or polluting, which was why I became interested in green chemistry, finding an equally vibrant international research environment in Venice; the Green Chemistry research group within the Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics with Professor Tundo, even if Italian investments in research are less than in America."