Synthetic Molecular Motors: Thermal N Inversion and Directional Photoinduced CN Bond Rotation of Camphorquinone Imines

The thermal and photochemical E/Z isomerization of camphorquinone‐derived imines was studied by a combination of kinetic, structural, and computational methods. The thermal isomerization proceeds by linear N inversion, whereas the photoinduced process occurs through C?N bond rotation with preferred directionality as a result of diastereoisomerism. Thereby, these imines are arguably the simplest example of synthetic molecular motors. The generality of the orthogonal trajectories of the thermal and photochemical pathways allows for the postulation that every suitable chiral imine qualifies, in principle, as a molecular motor driven by light or heat.