Unidirectional migration of the iodine atom over a cyclopentadiene ring in a rotating electric field

The DFT, B3LYP/Gen and 6-311++G(d,p)/SDD calculations of the reaction paths of a circumambulatory rearrangement of 5-iodocyclopentadiene showed that, under the application of a rotating electric field, the molecule behaves as a rotor-type molecular motor with the unidirectional motion of the iodine atom along the perimeter of the five-membered ring (k₂₉₈ = 630 s^–1).