Abstract:
Natural systems are highly competent in employing intricate transformations which
potentially undergo self-assembly in a kinetically controlled and out-of-equilibrium manner.
This delivers methods of controlling their intricate chemical organizations in spatio-temporal
manner giving rise to autonomous smart functions. Though synthetic systems undergo
thermodynamically driven supramolecular polymerization which is much simpler, there is no
modulation of organization over space or time. The necessity towards defined control over
structure and function of supramolecular polymers has recently aroused interest in
programming the supramolecular polymerization process. Inspired by the outstanding
control that Nature establishes, a drive towards artificial out-of-equilibrium systems with the
aim of programming structural transformations via a fuel driven approach appears to be the
solution.
In this Chapter, we survey the current literature where we start from a concise
outlook about general methods to self-assemble chromophores and then advance to examine
the existing methods for achieving control over supramolecular polymerization over space
and time. Although, there have been substantial progress, this field is still under infancy due
to the absence of generalized strategies. We lay the foundation for the future discussions in
succeeding chapters where we investigate the fuel driven approaches to create
programmable supramolecular polymers.
