Directed
motion at the nanoscale is a central attribute of life,
and chemically driven motor proteins are nature’s choice to
accomplish it. Motivated and inspired by such bionanodevices, in the
past few decades chemists have developed artificial prototypes of
molecular motors, namely, multicomponent synthetic species that exhibit
directionally controlled, stimuli-induced movements of their parts.
In this context, photonic and redox stimuli represent highly appealing
modes of activation, particularly from a technological viewpoint.
Here we describe the evolution of the field of photo- and redox-driven
artificial molecular motors, and we provide a comprehensive review
of the work published in the past 5 years. After an analysis of the
general principles that govern controlled and directed movement at
the molecular scale, we describe the fundamental photochemical and
redox processes that can enable its realization. The main classes
of light- and redox-driven molecular motors are illustrated, with
a particular focus on recent designs, and a thorough description of
the functions performed by these kinds of devices according to literature
reports is presented. Limitations, challenges, and future perspectives
of the field are critically discussed.