Organised systems shape

Shape of Organised Systems and Energy Maintained Form. 96... 

We are not only concerned with this bureaucratic feedback-control-system approach. Feedback also involves learning and the accumulation of qualified experience. This will result in gradual improvements in the organisation s performance. We will here be concerned with features of an organisation that shape behaviour of importance to SHE. Figure 3.3 shows a typical example... 

Solv=MeOH, EtOH and PrOH), and l,4-bis(4-pyridyl-butadiyne) (bpb, n= 0.5, Solv=MeOH). Like the btr derivative, compressed [FeN6] pseudo-octahedral sites define the knots of the square- or rhombus-shaped windows, which constitute the layered grid structure of the three compounds. Stacking of these layers in the crystal defines their most important structural differences, which are determined by the ligand size and crystal packing efficiency. In principle, the 2D grids are organised in a fashion similar to that described for the [Fe(btr)2(NCX)2]-H20 system the parallel layers are alternated so that the iron atoms of one layer lie vertically above and below the centres of the squares formed by the iron atoms of the adjacent layers. 

This and the succeeding chapters take us a stage further. They are focused on the role of curvature and its connection to function for supramolecular assemblies of biomolecules. A number of examples from biology are presented where cur ature and function are clearly intimately connected. These examples allow us to speculate on the central part played by shape in chemical reactions, and in molecular organisation in living systems the beginning of a language of shape. 

We are convinced that a structural description based on curvature is useful in physical and biological sciences, and the numerous examples presented here support that view. Finally, we hope that our speculations on the role of these shapes in chemical reactions and in molecular organisation in living systems will inspire new work in tins field. 

Surfactants by definition self-organise in water giving rise to micelles of varying size and shape. The core of micelles is non-polar and can solubilise reactants that are insoluble in water. Thus, a simple surfactant-water system at a surfactant concentration well above the critical micelle concentration can be used to overcome the problem of reactant incompatibility the polar reagent will be situated in the bulk aqueous domain, the non-polar reagent will be present in the micelles, and the reaction will occur at the micelle boundary. Organic reactions in micellar systems have been reported more than 40 years ago [1,2]. 

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