Molecular Architectonics

Abstract

AbstractNature is full of sophisticated structures and functions orchestrated through balanced noncovalent interactions driven by molecular assemblies. Fabrication of artificial mimics is inherently challenging due to the limited understanding and control of noncovalent interactions at the molecular level. The controlled engineering of subtle noncovalent interactions and the molecular assembly of custom-designed functional building blocks allow construction of well-defined molecular and material architectures, which is termed as molecular architectonics. The judicious functionalization of functional core with biomolecular auxiliaries (amino acids, peptides, nucleic acids, sugars, and lipids and their derivatives or mimics) imparts the built-in information for molecular recognition to functional building blocks. The scheme of molecular architectonics allows the bottom-up fabrication of desired 0D, 1D, 2D, and 3D molecular and material architectures with well-defined nano- to macroscale size and shapes through solution processes. The molecular architectonics-guided architectures exhibit novel functional properties and biological and non-biological applications across the areas of self-cleaning, biomimetic catalysis, organic electronics and bioelectronics, homochirality and protein folding, sensors, bioimaging, drug delivery, and tissue engineering, among others. In this chapter, we provide brief overview on the practice of molecular architectonics through various organic and biomolecular assembly-engineering strategies. The subsequent chapters cover organic, bioorganic, inorganic, macromolecular, and hybrid architectural strategies adapted by several research groups that exemplify the principles of molecular architectonics.KeywordsMolecular architectonicsMolecular assemblyFunctional building blocksAuxiliaryFunctional properties and applications