From small molecules to complext supramolecular architectures: underlying physical concepts and phenomena

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It is accepted today that self-assembly and self-organization processes are the thread that connects the reductionism of chemical reactions to the complexity and emergence of a living dynamic system. Unraveling these processes may lead not only to a better understanding of nature's approach to generating supramolecular architectures with predefined size, topology, stereochemistry, hierarchy, and shape, but also to technological applications in engineering, science, and medicine.The conceptualization of an organized state of matter requires in-debt understanding not only of chemical reactivity but also of the chemical information embedded in the molecules in the form of charges, dipoles, and other functional elements necessary to translate chemical information into functional superstructures. Towards this goal we propose to investigate four inter-related projects. The first deals with controlling the inner diameter of self-assembled rosette nanotubes (RNTs) through the design and chemical synthesis of small organic molecules. The second topic consists in utilizing the RNTs to generate monodisperse metallic nanoparticles endowed with important catalytic properties. The third topic deals with the study of a new family of nanotubules derived from the RNTs through a novel self-assembly mechanism. Finally, because of the auto-catalytic and self-replicating properties of the RNTs, we propose to develop an in-vitro evolution strategy for the selection of RNTs with predefined properties.This program has contributed to a truly multidisciplinary environment within my group and department. In addition to exploring new aspects of organic chemistry, the students involved in this program, learn the art of supramolecular engineering. Subsequent physical organic studies to characterize the resulting assemblies entice them to learn and practice state-of-the-art spectroscopic and imaging techniques.