SUPRAMOLECULAR CHEMISTRY
SUPRAMOLECULAR CHEMISTRY
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DOI：
10.1126/science.8511582
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发表时间：
1993-06-18
期刊：
影响因子：
56.9
通讯作者：
LEHN, JM
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
LEHN, JM
Thus, beyond the preorganization used in the construction of molecular receptors lies self-organization. It involves the design of systems capable of spontaneously generating well-defined supramolecular entities by self-assembly from their components in a given set of conditions (2, 7). The information necessary for the process to take place and the program that it follows must be stored in the components and operate according to an algorithm based on molecular recognition events. Thus, these systems may be termed programmed supramolecular systems (2). Self-assembly and self-organization have recently been implemented in several types of organic and inorganic systems (2, 7, 8). By clever use of metal coordination, hydrogen bonding, and donor-acceptorinteractions, re-searchers have achieved the spontaneous for-mation of a variety of novel and intriguing species suchas the inorganic double and triple helices termed helicates, catenanes, threaded entities (rotaxanes), cage compounds, and so forth. For instance, by the self-assembly of 11 particles-five ligands of two different types andsix copper (I) metal ions-a closed, cage-like structure is obtained spontaneously and selectively in one stroke (see figure). A further major developmentalong these lines is the design of molecular species with the ability to self-replicate. This was realized with the use ofcomponents containing suit-able recognition groups and reactive func-tions (9). In a study of helicate self-assembly from a mixture of different ligands and metal ions, it has been found that only the" correct" heli-cal complexes are formed through self-recog-nition. More broadly, this points to a change in paradigm from pure compounds to in-structed mixtures-that is, from seeking chemical purity to designing programmed systems composed of mixtures of instructed components capable of spontaneously form-ing well-defined superstructures. One may venture to predict that this trend will repre-sent a major line of development of chemis-try in the years to come: the spontaneous but controlled buildup of structurally organized and functionally integrated supramolecular systems froma preexisting" soup" ofinstructed components following well-definedprograms and interactional algorithms. Thus, the study of self-processes represents an area of rapidly increasing activity.
