Guest-Responsive Molecular Assemblies

One of the most important challenges before modern chemistry is to understand the nature of processes responsible for the formation of complex multi-component structures. Such assemblies are synthesized with the intention of obtaining products with desired properties and potentially being used as molecular machines [ 1 ]. There are several classes of compounds which can form multi-component structures [2], and inclusion complexes (ICs) are one of the most important. Synthetic procedures and structural studies of inclusion compounds have been exhaustively discussed and described in several textbooks [3]. The nature of host-guest interactions, the spatial arrangement of components, and the character of inter-molecular contacts have been analyzed different techniques in the liquid and solid phase [4]. 

Shinkai and Kanekiyo discuss the development of boronic acid-based supra-molecular systems. Supramolecular systems discussed include sugar-responsive gels, porphyrin-boronic acid, systems that exhibit guest-induced spectroscopic changes, two-dimensional self-assembly at the air-water interface, boronic acid-functionalized metal nanoparticles and boronic acid-appended polymers. 

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