Summary. The above discussion is not intended to be needlessly pedantic. However, when molecular switches and energy ratchets are described as "out of equilibrium", or similarly, this term is applied to supramolecular polymers that are not part of the reaction network that includes the coupled reaction, it causes confusion. This can in turn obscure what has been achieved in an experiment, and, in the worst case, lead other researchers down blind alleys. Similarly, if every system in which a reaction is taking place is thought to be "fueled" and some energetic property of the fuel is thought to be key to the process, this leads to a focus on the "fuel" molecule, rather than the properties of the network (i.e., kinetic constants etc.), which govern the system and require far more attention. For example, in the case of catenane motor 6, a focus on the properties of the fuel could tempt one to include the free energy change associated with evaporation of CO2 from the reaction mixture in the maximum work that could be done. However, this step lies outside of the reaction network and so does not directly affect the behavior of the motor other than by limiting the value of [CO2].