Supramolecular electrochemistry chemistry

In this decade, all chemistry research fields have adopted and/or applied the dendrimers and/or dendrimer methodologies. The table of contents of this series. Topics in Current Chemistry Dendrimers Volumes I-IV, clearly indicates this situation [1-4], that is, the concept of dendritic compounds has already been introduced in host-guest and/or supramolecular chemistry (Vol. I/Chap. 2, Vol. Il/Chaps. 3,4, Vol. IV/Chap. 3), chiral chemistry (Vol. I/Chap. 4), electrochemistry (Vol. I/Chap. 6, Vol. Ill/Chap. 3), heteroatom and/or organometalHc chemistries (Vol. I/Chap. 3, Vol. Il/Chaps. 2,5, and Vol. IV/Chap. 4), and carbohydrate chemistry (Vol. IV/Chap. 6), as well as applied in the field of medicine (Vol. Il/Chap. 6) and nanoscience (Vol. Ill/Chap. 4). The dendrimer methodology is expected to be used in future novel science as a conventional chemistry concept. 

Although, from a purely chemical point of view, learning how to create these complicated supramolecular structures has its own value, there are plenty of more practical reasons to investigate this chemistry. In the short term, these include catalysis and sensor applications, and in the long term, molecular electronics and molecular machines. With perhaps the exception of catalysis, all these applications will require some sort of signal transduction to allow for communication with the supramolecular device. This, of course, is one of the main reasons that electrochemistry is useful for supramolecular chemistry. Electron transfer provides a well-understood and very sensitive method to both communicate with supramolecular assemblies and control their structure.8... 

Like the currently popular area, called nanoscience , the field of supramolecular chemistry has rather hazy boundaries. Indeed, both areas now share much common ground in terms of the types of systems that are considered. From the beginning, electrochemistry, which provides a powerful complement to spectroscopic techniques, has played an important role in characterizing such systems and this very useful book goes considerably beyond the volume on this same topic by Kaifer and Gomez-Kaifer that was published about 10 years ago. Some of the classic supramolecular chemistry topics such as rotaxanes, catenanes, host-guest interactions, dendrimers, and self-assembled monolayers remain, but now with important extensions into the realms of fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and biomolecules, like DNA. 

Antonio Domenech holds a Ph.D. in chemistry (University of Valencia, 1989) and is currently professor in the Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Valencia, Spain. His research is focused on supramolecular electrochemistry, electrochemistry of porous nanostructured materials, and electroanalytical methods applied to conservation and restoration of cultural heritage, as well as on educational problems in teaching of science. He has published more than 150 articles in scientific journals and several monographs, among them Supramolecular Chemistry of Anions and Electrochemical Methods in Archeometry, Conservation and Restoration. Dr. Domenech received the Demetrio Ribes award for original research (Valencian Regional Government) in 2006. 

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. 

Supramolecular Chemistry Definition, p. 1401 Supramolecular Electrochemistry, p. 1412 Supramolecular Photochemistry, p. 1434... 

The work summarized in this article relates to some of the most exciting areas of supramolecular chemistry. The interdependence of electron-transfer reactions with supramolecular interactions is at the core of the development of switchable molecular devices. Furthermore, research in areas of supramolecular electrochemistry may open the way for technological applications such as responsive (intelligent) materials. A possible impact in the field of electrochemical sensors is also readily visualized from the work described here. 

Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, University Research Centre UNCE Supramolecular Chemistry , Department of Analytical Chemistry, UNESCO Laboratory of Environmental Electrochemistry, Hlavova 2030/8, 12843 Prague 2, Czech Republic e-mail vlastimil.vyskocil natur.cuiii.cz andrealiajkova natur.cuni.cz... 

Such achievements have been made possible because of the substantial progresses obtained in other areas of chemistry and physics—particularly concerning the synthesis and characterization of complex chemical systems, and the study of surfaces and interfaces. In this perspective, electrochemistry is a very powerful tool not only for characterizing a supramolecular system, but also for operating the device. Indeed, molecular devices, as their macroscopic counterparts, need energy to operate and signals to communicate with the operator. Electrochemistry can be an interesting... 

Modern surface analytical tools make it possible to probe the physical structure as well as the chemical composition and reactivity of interfacial supramolecular assemblies with unprecedented precision and sensitivity. Therefore, Chapter 3 discusses the modern instrumental techniques used to probe the structure and reactivity of interfacial supramolecular assemblies. The discussion here is focused on techniques traditionally applied to the interrogation of interfaces, such as electrochemistry and scanning electron microscopy, as well as various microprobe techniques. In addition, some less common techniques, which will make an increasing contribution to supramolecular interfacial chemistry over the coming years, are considered. 

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