Abstract:
Supramolecular chemistry is coined as chemistry beyond the moleculeand the
chemistry of the non-covalent bond [13]. Association of two or more chemical
species via weak intermolecular forces leads to structures of higher complexity and
richness [4, 5]. Hydrogen bonding [69], ? [10, 11], electrostatic [12, 13], dipoledipole
[14], hydrophobic [15, 16], donor-acceptor [17, 18] are some of these key
interactions. Naturally, the strengths of these non-covalent interactions are lower than
that of covalent interactions. As a result, supramolecular polymers are less stable,
more labile, and more flexible than conventional polymers. Thus, supramolecular
chemistry is concerned with soft bonds and represents a soft chemistry" [4].
Supramolecular assemblies result from a spontaneous association of smaller units,
possess well-defined microscopic organization and can have various macroscopic characteristics
such as films, layers, membranes, micelles, vesicles, etc. [4]. Supramolecular
polymers exhibit a wide variety of applications ranging from biomedical [19] to
optoelectronics [
