Investigations into the molecular origin of mechanisms in supramolecular polymerization

Abstract

The process of organizing molecules into well-defined structures by using non-covalent and reversible interactions, such as hydrogen-bonding, ?-stacking, hydrophobic, electrostatic and van der Waals interactions, is called molecular self-assembly. [1, 2] Self-assembly of small molecules into large, complex and functional architectures has attracted the attention of researchers for the past two decades. This increased interest in self-assembly is due to two factors: firstly, to build functional nanostructures from a bottom-up approach for practical applications, such as in organic electronics; [35] and secondly, to understand the process of self-assembly in biological macromolecules, that is, synthetic mimics. [6] This process of formation of large, one-dimensional aggregates from their monomers by using non-covalent interactions is termed supramolecular polymerization and the obtained assembly a supramolecular polymer (Figure 1.1). [711] The reversible nature of non-covalent intermolecular interactions manifests in properties like self-healability and stimuli responsiveness which are uncommon in most conventional polymers.