Recognition complementarity

The concepts of molecular recognition, complementarity, pre-organization and predisposition and self-assembly are fundamental to, and a recurrent theme in, supramolecular and metallosupramolecular chemistry. 

Information may be stored in the architecture of the receptor, in its binding sites, and in the ligand layer surrounding the bound substrate such as specified in Table 1. It is read out at the rate of formation and dissociation of the receptor—substrate complex (14). The success of this approach to molecular recognition ties in estabUshing a precise complementarity between the associating partners, ie, optimal information content of a receptor with respect to a given substrate. 

By structural complementarity, dicationic l,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (VII) provides an appropriate recognition site for phosphate ions and two stearyl side chains attached to the amines add lipophilic properties 59,60). Such a carrier model can selectively extract nucleotides from aqueous solution to chloroform solution via lipophilic salt formation. The order of nucleotide affinity is ATP > ADP > AMP. The selectivity ratios were 45 for ADP/AMP and 7500 for ATP/AMP at pH 3. The relative transport rate was ATP > ADP > AMP. The ratios were 60 for ATP/AMP and 51 for ADP/AMP. The modes of interaction of ADP and ATP are proposed to be as shown in Fig. 6. 

Lanzavecchia A Specialization and complementar- 57 ity in microbial molecule recognition by human myeloid and plasmacytoid dendritic cells. Eur J Immunol 2001 31 3388-3393. 

Intermolecular recognition and self-assembly processes both in the solid, liquid, and gas phases are the result of the balanced action of steric and electronic factors related to shape complementarity, size compatibility, and specific anisotropic interactions. Rather than pursuing specific and definitive rules for recognition and self-assembly processes, we will afford some heuristic principles that can be used as guidelines in XB-based supramolecular chemistry. 

The possibility to resolve the two enantiomers of 27a (or 26) by crystalline complexa-tion with optically active 26 (or 27a) is mainly due to differences in topological complementarity between the H-bonded chains of host and guest molecules. In this respect, the spatial relationships which affect optical resolution in the above described coordination-assisted clathrates are similar to those characterizing some optically resolved molecular complexes S4). This should encourage additional applications of the lattice inclusion phenomena to problems of chiral recognition. 

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