# Jean-Pierre Sauvage
**Jean-Pierre Sauvage** (born 1944 in Paris) is a French supramolecular chemist, Professor Emeritus at the [University of Strasbourg](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-strasbourg) and Director of Research Emeritus at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), known for the template synthesis of interlocked molecules and as co-recipient of the 2016 [Nobel Prize in Chemistry](https://www.edgepedia.org/nobel-prize-in-chemistry) for the design and synthesis of molecular machines.[1](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2016/press-release/) According to the Nobel Committee's 2016 scientific background on molecular machines, he was a researcher at the CNRS in [Strasbourg](https://www.edgepedia.org/strasbourg) from 1971 to 2014 and became holder of a Chair of Chemical Topology and Molecular Machines at the University of Strasbourg Institute for Advanced Study (USIAS), with his laboratory at ISIS, the Institut de science et d'ingénierie supramoléculaires.[2](https://www.usias.fr/en/chairs/jean-pierre-sauvage/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Field | Supramolecular chemistry; chemical topology and molecular machines[2](https://www.usias.fr/en/chairs/jean-pierre-sauvage/) |
| Born | 1944, Paris, France[1](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2016/press-release/) |
| Signature work | "A Light-Driven Linear Motor at the Molecular Level", *Science*, 2001[3](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1059590) |
| Central contribution | 1983 copper(I)-templated synthesis of a [2]catenane, the first high-yielding route to a mechanically interlocked molecule[4](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1619330114) |
| Nobel Prize | 2016, shared equally with two co-laureates; 8 million Swedish krona divided three ways[1](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2016/press-release/) |
| Molecular muscle | Rotaxane dimer stretching to about 8 nm with copper(I) and contracting to about 6.5 nm with zinc(II)[5](https://doi.org/10.1021/ar0001766) |
| Career record | CNRS Research Fellow 1971–1979; Director of Research 1979–2009; Professor Emeritus, Strasbourg, from 2009[6](https://jcc2017.sciencesconf.org/data/CV_sauvage.pdf) |
## Education and career
Sauvage trained at the École nationale supérieure de chimie de Strasbourg, now ECPM Strasbourg.[7](https://isis.unistra.fr/en/research-teams/sauvage-inorganic-chemistry/) He completed his PhD at the Louis-Pasteur University (Strasbourg I) in 1971 under Jean-Marie Lehn, himself a 1987 Nobel laureate in chemistry, and during the thesis he developed the first synthesis of cryptand ligands, cage-like molecules that bind metal ions.[2](https://www.usias.fr/en/chairs/jean-pierre-sauvage/) • [8](https://mediatheque.lindau-nobel.org/laureates/sauvage/cv) Following a post-doctorate with Malcolm L. H. Green in Oxford from 1973 to 1974, he returned to Strasbourg, where he was a CNRS Research Fellow from 1971 to 1979 and CNRS Director of Research from 1979 to 2009, with a period as University Professor from 1981 to 1984.[6](https://jcc2017.sciencesconf.org/data/CV_sauvage.pdf) • [7](https://isis.unistra.fr/en/research-teams/sauvage-inorganic-chemistry/) From 2009 he has been Professor Emeritus at the University of Strasbourg; his own curriculum vitae also records a Distinguished Visiting Scholar role at [Northwestern University](https://www.edgepedia.org/northwestern-university) from 2010 to 2012 and a visiting professorship at the [University of Zurich](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-zurich).[6](https://jcc2017.sciencesconf.org/data/CV_sauvage.pdf) ISIS lists him as Emeritus Professor at Strasbourg, Emeritus Research Director at CNRS, and Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Northwestern University.[7](https://isis.unistra.fr/en/research-teams/sauvage-inorganic-chemistry/)
## Template synthesis of interlocked molecules
A catenane is a molecule of two interpenetrating rings linked mechanically rather than chemically; according to *PNAS*, before 1983 such species had been made only by a low-yielding statistical protocol or a laborious directed covalent approach with modest yields.[7](https://isis.unistra.fr/en/research-teams/sauvage-inorganic-chemistry/) • [4](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1619330114) In 1983 Sauvage demonstrated the first high-yielding template-directed synthesis of a [2]catenane, capitalizing on a threading approach centered about a copper(I) atom: phenanthroline units coordinate to Cu(I), which gathers and orients the ligand fragments so that ring-closing followed by metal removal leaves the two rings interlocked.[4](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1619330114) • [9](https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/advanced-chemistryprize2016-2.pdf) The Nobel Committee's scientific background credits this work with introducing template synthesis as a straightforward route to catenanes and rotaxanes, with much higher overall yields as a consequence; the Lindau laureate record describes the copper-templated method as a standard in the field.[9](https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/advanced-chemistryprize2016-2.pdf) • [8](https://mediatheque.lindau-nobel.org/laureates/sauvage/cv) The approach has enabled his group to produce topologically demanding species such as [3]catenanes, trefoil knots, and Solomon links, and a later review notes that catenanes, rotaxanes, knots, and [Borromean rings](https://www.edgepedia.org/borromean-rings) have all been accessed by metal-directed synthesis.[9](https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/advanced-chemistryprize2016-2.pdf) • [10](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201007963)
## Representative work
The 2001 *Science* paper A Light-Driven Linear Motor at the Molecular Level, published on 16 March 2001 with Sauvage as corresponding author, is the work most often taken to represent his molecular-machine program.[3](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1059590) His 2005 review in the Royal Society of Chemistry's journal describes the family of prototypes it belongs to: an electrochemically driven pirouetting machine, a linear rotaxane dimer whose stretch and contract behavior is reminiscent of muscles, and a light-driven catenane built around a ruthenium(II) center.[11](https://doi.org/10.1039/b500680p) In the linear motors, oxidizing or reducing the copper center to Cu(II) or Cu(I) makes the ring glide from one position on the axle to another and back.[5](https://doi.org/10.1021/ar0001766) The muscle-like rotaxane dimer is assembled by quantitative double-threading triggered by copper(I) complexation; the copper(I) form is stretched at an overall length of approximately 8 nm, while exchanging the metal for zinc(II) gives a contracted form of approximately 6.5 nm, a large-amplitude contraction, and stretching is generated by exchanging zinc(II) back for copper(I) at the two metal centers.[5](https://doi.org/10.1021/ar0001766) • [12](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.200502394) The National Academy of Sciences directory describes his group's machines as a "swinging" catenane, a [molecular muscle](https://www.edgepedia.org/molecular-muscle) whose length changes between 6 nm and 8 nm, and a molecular compressor, alongside recognized work in inorganic photochemistry, artificial photosynthesis, electrocatalysis, and electron transfer.[13](https://www.nasonline.org/directory-entry/jean-pierre-sauvage-sxjhcf/)
## Honors
Sauvage received the CNRS bronze medal in 1978 and its silver medal in 1988, was elected corresponding member of the [French Academy of Sciences](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-academy-of-sciences) in 1990 and full member in 1997, and was made Knight of the French Legion of Honour and Grand Officer of the French National Order of Merit in 2016.[2](https://www.usias.fr/en/chairs/jean-pierre-sauvage/) The 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded jointly to Sauvage and two co-laureates, with the 8 million [Swedish krona](https://www.edgepedia.org/swedish-krona) prize amount shared equally between the laureates.[1](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2016/press-release/)
## How the 2016 prize was divided
The committee's citation rests on three distinct steps. Sauvage took the first step in 1983 by linking two ring-shaped molecules into a catenane through a freer mechanical bond rather than a covalent one.[1](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2016/press-release/) According to the Nobel Prize press release, Stoddart developed the rotaxane in 1991 by threading a molecular ring onto a molecular axle, using interactions between electron-rich and electron-poor aromatic entities rather than metal coordination; Lindau's account puts the contrast directly: Sauvage used organic molecules plus a metal ion, while Stoddart's approach created a topological link without metal atoms.[1](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2016/press-release/) • [9](https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/advanced-chemistryprize2016-2.pdf) • [14](https://www.lindau-nobel.org/nobel-prize-in-chemistry-2016-new-chemical-bonds-are-few-and-far-between/) Another researcher reported the first molecular motor in 1999, driven by cycles of light irradiation and thermal relaxation.[9](https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/advanced-chemistryprize2016-2.pdf) By 1994 both another group, with a ring shuttling between two stations on an axle, and the Sauvage group, with rotation in a catenane driven by electrochemical oxidation and reduction of the central copper ion, had demonstrated controllable motion.[9](https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/advanced-chemistryprize2016-2.pdf)
## Recent activity
Sauvage remains scientifically active after emeritus status. He delivered a DIPC colloquium, "From Inorganic Photochemistry to Molecular Machines", on 27 November 2024, affiliated with ISIS, the University of Strasbourg, and CNRS; the event page states that he continues to influence research on molecular science.[15](https://dipc.ehu.eus/en/scientific-activities/colloquia/from-inorganic-photochemistry-to-molecular-machines) He has also joined a co-laureate in an Agora Talk at a Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting on the journey of molecular machines from conceptual foundations to laboratory realization.[16](https://mediatheque.lindau-nobel.org/recordings/42551/ben-l-feringa-jean-pierre-sauvage)
## References
1. Press release: The 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2016/press-release/
2. Jean-Pierre Sauvage – USIAS, University of Strasbourg. https://www.usias.fr/en/chairs/jean-pierre-sauvage/
3. A Light-Driven Linear Motor at the Molecular Level. Science, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1059590
4. Profile of Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, and Bernard L. Feringa, 2016 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry. PNAS. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1619330114
5. Shuttles and Muscles: Linear Molecular Machines Based on Transition Metals. Accounts of Chemical Research, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1021/ar0001766
6. Curriculum Vitae – Jean-Pierre Sauvage. https://jcc2017.sciencesconf.org/data/CV_sauvage.pdf
7. Sauvage | Organo-mineral chemistry | ISIS. https://isis.unistra.fr/en/research-teams/sauvage-inorganic-chemistry/
8. CV – Jean-Pierre Sauvage. Lindau Mediatheque. https://mediatheque.lindau-nobel.org/laureates/sauvage/cv
9. Molecular Machines: Scientific Background to the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/advanced-chemistryprize2016-2.pdf
10. Strategies and Tactics for the Metal-Directed Synthesis of Rotaxanes, Knots, Catenanes, and Higher Order Links. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201007963
11. Transition metal-complexed catenanes and rotaxanes as molecular machine prototypes. Chemical Society Reviews, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1039/b500680p
12. Transition-Metal-Complexed Molecular Machine Prototypes. Advanced Materials, 2005. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.200502394
13. Jean-Pierre Sauvage. National Academy of Sciences member directory. https://www.nasonline.org/directory-entry/jean-pierre-sauvage-sxjhcf/
14. Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016: 'New chemical bonds are few and far between'. Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings. https://www.lindau-nobel.org/nobel-prize-in-chemistry-2016-new-chemical-bonds-are-few-and-far-between/
15. From Inorganic Photochemistry to Molecular Machines. DIPC Colloquium, 27 November 2024. https://dipc.ehu.eus/en/scientific-activities/colloquia/from-inorganic-photochemistry-to-molecular-machines
16. Ben L. Feringa, Jean-Pierre Sauvage – Agora Talks. Lindau Mediatheque. https://mediatheque.lindau-nobel.org/recordings/42551/ben-l-feringa-jean-pierre-sauvage
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Physical world and mathematics › Physical and mathematical scientists › Chemists › Researchers in polymer, supramolecular, and materials chemistry › Supramolecular chemistry and host–guest systems*
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