ArticleNature chemistry2024
Harnessing Maxwell's demon to establish a macroscale concentration gradient.
Article in Nature chemistry, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Orchestrating photoswitch thermal backconversion using hydrogen bonds to reshape energy landscapes.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Light-Induced Rotation of a Molecular Motor in the Confined Space of a Metal-Organic Nanocage.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2026Article
- Light-Controlled Functions with Metal-Organic Capsules: From Guest Release to Catalysis, Separation, and Molecular Transport.Accounts of chemical research · 2026Article
- A Versatile Strategy for Light-Driven Active Transport of Ions.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2026Article
- Active Transport of Macrocycles into Micelles Using Molecular Pumps.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2025Article
- Light them up: photoresponsive imine-containing systems.Chemical science · 2025Review
- Chemically Fueled Active Transport.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2025Article
- Catalysis-driven Active Transport Across a Liquid Membrane.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Maxwell's demon describes a thought experiment in which a 'demon' regulates the flow of particles between two adjoining spaces, establishing a potential gradient without appearing to do work. This seeming paradox led to the understanding that sorting entails thermodynamic work, a foundational concept of information theory. In the past centuries, many systems analogous to Maxwell's demon have been introduced in the form of molecular information, molecular pumps and ratchets. Here we report a functional example of a Maxwell's demon that pumps material over centimetres, whereas previous examples operated on a molecular scale. In our system, this demon drives directional transport of o-fluoroazobenzene between the arms of a U-tube apparatus upon light irradiation, transiting through an aqueous membrane containing a coordination cage. The concentration gradient thus obtained is further harnessed to drive naphthalene transport in the opposite direction.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.