Supramolecular polymers can be random and entangled coils with the mechanical properties of plastics and elastomers, but with great capacity for processability, recycling, and self-healing due to their reversible monomer-to-polymer transitions. At the other extreme, supramolecular polymers can be formed by self-assembly among designed subunits to yield shape-persistent and highly ordered filaments. The use of strong and directional interactions among molecular subunits can achieve not only rich dynamic behavior but also high degrees of internal order that are not known in ordinary polymers. They can resemble, for example, the ordered and dynamic one-dimensional supramolecular assemblies of the cell cytoskeleton and possess useful biological and electronic functions.

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Functional Supramolecular Polymers

Molecular self-assembly is the spontaneous association of molecules under equilibrium conditions into stable, structurally well-defined aggregates joined by noncovalent bonds. Molecular self-assembly is ubiquitous in biological systems and underlies the formation of a wide variety of complex biological structures. Understanding self-assembly and the associated noncovalent interactions that connect complementary interacting molecular surfaces in biological aggregates is a central concern in structural biochemistry. Self-assembly is also emerging as a new strategy in chemical synthesis, with the potential of generating nonbiological structures with dimensions of 1 to 10(2) nanometers (with molecular weights of 10(4) to 10(10) daltons). Structures in the upper part of this range of sizes are presently inaccessible through chemical synthesis, and the ability to prepare them would open a route to structures comparable in size (and perhaps complementary in function) to those that can be prepared by microlithography and other techniques of microfabrication.

Molecular self-assembly and nanochemistry: A chemical strategy for the synthesis of nanostructures

Perylene Bisimide Dye Assemblies as Archetype Functional Supramolecular Materials

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/90/5/1635.full.pdf

Supramolecular chemistry.

Two-dimensionally extended, polycyclic heteroaromatic molecules (heterocyclic nanographenes) are a highly versatile class of organic materials, applicable as functional chromophores and organic semiconductors. In this Review, we discuss the rich chemistry of large heteroaromatics, focusing on their synthesis, electronic properties, and applications in materials science. This Review summarizes the historical development and current state of the art in this rapidly expanding field of research, which has become one of the key exploration areas of modern heterocyclic chemistry.

Heterocyclic Nanographenes and Other Polycyclic Heteroaromatic Compounds: Synthetic Routes, Properties, and Applications

An efficient protocol for the synthesis of quinoxaline derivatives at room temperature using molecular iodine as the catalyst

Directional electron and hole transport is essential in photosynthesis. Applied to molecular optoelectronics such as organic solar cells, these lessons from nature call for oriented supramolecular n/p-heterojunctions (SHJs) that contain various chromophores and antiparallel redox gradients (OMARGs). In this tutorial review, we summarize recent progress made toward the construction of OMARG-SHJs. This conceptually innovative twist added to a timely topic should appeal to the synthetic organic, supramolecular, biological, physical, analytical and materials chemist as well as to the expert in energy and environmental sciences.

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Supramolecular n/p-heterojunction photosystems with oriented multicolored antiparallel redox gradients (OMARG-SHJs).

Lessons from nature call for supramolecular n/p-heterojunctions with oriented multicolored antiparallel redox gradients (OMARG-SHJs) as “ideal” photosystems. Their design combines advantages of bilayer and bulk n/p-heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells for the directional separation of photogenerated charges before recombination can occur. Although conceptually attractive, OMARG-SHJs have remained beyond reach because of unresolved challenges in synthetic organic and supramolecular chemistry. Here we report the first OMARG-SHJs with two-component redox gradients in both the electron- and hole-transporting pathways. They were obtained by zipper assembly of stacks of red naphthalenediimide (NDI) electron donors along strings of oligophenylethynyl hole acceptors on top of yellow NDI electron acceptors along p-oligophenyl hole donors. The presence of both gradients is shown to be essential for achieving photoinduced charge separation over very long distances.

Rajesh S. Bhosale

Papers

An efficient protocol for the synthesis of quinoxaline derivatives at room temperature using molecular iodine as the catalyst

Supramolecular n/p-heterojunction photosystems with oriented multicolored antiparallel redox gradients (OMARG-SHJs).

Supramolecular n/p-Heterojunction Photosystems with Antiparallel Redox Gradients in Electron- and Hole-Transporting Pathways

Molecular Iodine: An Efficient Catalyst for the Synthesis of Tetrahydrobenzo[b]pyrans

Versatile 2,7-Substituted Pyrene Synthons for the Synthesis of Pyrene-Fused Azaacenes