Chemical synthesis supramolecular chemistry

Who would have imagined that this simple set of reactions referred to as click reactions would revolutionize the approach to science cutting across disciplines such as drug discovery, polymer synthesis, materials science, chemical biology, supramolecular chemistry, and cosmetic chemistry in a short span of time. The tenth anniversary of the discovery of this concept of click reactions was celebrated with a lot of fanfare in the scientific community in 2011. 

The contribution of supramolecular chemistry to chemical synthesis has two main aspects the production of the non-covalent supramolecular species themselves, that is directly expressed in self-assembly processes, and the use of supramolecular features to assist in the synthesis of covalent molecular structures. 

Both historically and in the present day, supramolecular chemistry beautifully marries two scientific disciplines organic synthesis and physical organic chemistry. It is here that the most modern aspects of this field of chemistry share the spotlight. No longer is the objective simply to mimic biological systems such as enzymes, but rather, today s supramolecular chemist is limited only by his or her imagination as to the role that a macrocycle might play in some well-orchestrated chemical scheme. 

The dynamic process is akin to the error checking mechanisms employed in protein synthesis each reaction is reversible until the correct product has formed. In any evolutionary chemical system it is important to ensure copying fidelity and the success of dynamic combinatorial libraries indicates that concepts associate with supramolecular chemistry can be valuable in advancing chemical evolution. 

Supramolecular chemistry is chemistry beyond the molecule. It requires the simultaneous, precise control during synthesis of chemical composition, physical properties, and morphology over considerable length scales. An important component is self-assembly, the buildup of molecular structures... 

Creative chemistry must begin with synthesis. The chemical synthesis of macrocyclic ligands that can function as selective receptors for ions and neutral molecules is a central theme of modern supramolecular chemistry. Indeed the synthesis of these tailored receptors can be a real challenge, but it is also great fun I hope that this book conveys some of the enthusiasm of the authors for their subject. 

The classical thermochemical approach has also already been applied to special template-assisted chemical reactions like the template-directed synthesis of oligonucleotides [260], for which a detailed system of kinetic elementary steps has been derived and solved. Other examples are the thermochemical model for the assessment of cooperativity in self-assembly processes proposed in Ref. [261, 262] and for the quantitative description of multicomponent self-assembly processes of polymetallic helicates [263, 264]. More thermochemical approaches applied within particular fields of supramolecular chemistry will be mentioned in the following. 

Technically almost any reaction can be classed as operating on a scale that is beyond the molecule whether it is the catalysis of polypropylene, the solidification of cement or gene transcription. What makes the concept of supramolecular chemistry attractive is that there is an implicit act of design in the use of existing molecules, or in the synthesis of new ones, to prepare molecular assemblies that have particularly desirable qualities. Such qualities may include detection of biologically important species in a hospital environment, monitoring agrochemicals in watercourses, controlled release of pharmaceuticals into a patient or even the ability for a supramolecular interaction to act as a bit of information on a chemical computer chip. 

Due to their special chemical and physical properties (especially in elemental form), the PGM find various applications both in industry and in the laboratory, including organometallic chemistry, coordination and supramolecular chemistry, biological and medicinal chemistry, surfaces-, materials-and crystal engineering, photo- and electrochemistry and catalysis and organic synthesis. Today, the most important applications are, of course, their use in the catalytic automobile exhaust gas converter (e.g. Shelef and McCabe 2000), followed by their use in the jewelry industry. 

The role of extra water in such recipes has turned out to be complex and again a question of supramolecular chemistry. It seems to be safe to state that its stmcture and chemical reactivity is far from that of bulk water, as it is tightly bound and activated in the H-bonded system of the IL. Therefore, reactions with water take place quite rapidly. On the other hand, water as a solvating ligand seems to be excluded due to the IL-binding, as for instance deduced from the absence of so-called solvent pores [30]. This is a quite unique situation for colloid chemistry and material synthesis. 

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