Electrochemically Controlled Supramolecular Switches and Machines

The device-driven ingenuity of chemists led to the development of artificial molecular devices and machines. Nowadays they represent an established class of systems, that mostly rely on supramolecular interactions. In analogy with their macroscopic counterparts, molecular devices and machines need an energy supply to operate. Electrochemical inputs offer desirable features, indeed they are ideal to interface the macroscopic world with the molecular entities – through the electrodes – and can be used both to operate and monitor the state of the system. In this Chapter selected examples of self-assembling and interlocked systems that can be redox switched are illustrated. Moreover, examples of the emerging class of electroactive systems that operate away from equilibrium are discussed. In the initial sections the general concepts at the basis of the electrochemical operation and analysis of supramolecular systems are also covered, in order to facilitate the readers who are approaching the topic from different backgrounds.