Selective molecular recognition

Andersson LI, Mandenius CF, Mosbach K. Studies on guest selective molecular recognition on an octadecyl silylated silicon surface using ellipsometry. Tetrahedron Lett 1988 29 5437-5440. 

Fiedler D, Leung DH, Bergman RG, Raymond KN (2005) Selective molecular recognition, C-H bond activation, and catalysis in nanoscale reaction vessels. Acc Chem Res 38 349... 

Polyakov concluded that differences in the rate and extent of silica polymerisation due to the weaker acidifier (NH4)2C03 were the key factors underlying the apparent selectivity. The effect was ascribed to alterations in the silica structure induced by the presence of the additive, which was anticipated to replace water molecules on the silica surface. Later work, published in 1933 [7] and 1937 [8], contained more detailed investigations of this selective molecular recognition... 

Shape Selectivity Molecular recognition of the solute by the stationary phase with respect to its geometrical dimension is called shape selectivity. For this test, one can employ aromatic components with identical hydrophobicity that differ only in their three-dimensional shape. The chromatographic selectivity of o-terphe-nyl/triphenylene or tetra-benzonaphthalene/benzo[a]pyrene are commonly used and show dependencies on several features of the phase, for example, pore structure, ligand type, and density. Figure 3.6 shows a chromatogram of a test mixture of uracil (to marker), n-butylbenzene, and w-pentylbenzene (to assess hydrophobic properties and efficiency), and o-terphenyl and triphenylene (to assess shape selectivity). The test mixture was chosen to provide a short analysis time and to facilitate calculation of parameters from baseline-separated peaks. 

As with other hormone effects, steroid hormones act by attaching to a protein receptor molecule. The fact that such small chemical differences among these basically very similar steroid molecules can result in such profoimdly different effects is just another indication of the extraordinary power of selective molecular recognition by protein molecules. Unlike the receptors for many other hormones, receptors for steroid hormones are not embedded in the cell membrane. They do not need to be because these hormone molecules are both small and hydrophobic... 

Qu, F. and Li, H. (2009) Selective Molecular Recognition of PolycycUc Aromatic Hydrocarbons Using CdTe Quantum Dots with Cyclodextrin as Supramolecular Nano-sensitizers in Water. Ser)s. Actual. B, 135,499-505. 

In order to address the characteristics of biological models, we have to first define the basic principles of biological systems that a supramolecular model may mimic. Among the most important are selective molecular recognition of a molecular entity selective and highly accelerated modification of a substrate (typieal role of enzymes) compartmentalization and selective translocation of chemical species across boundaries (typieal role of biomembranes) harvesting and transformation of energy and self-replication. 

Nature uses multivalency as one of the most important governing principles to control selective molecular recognition and assembly. By combining a large number of weak interactions, it is possible to obtain h h affinity, selective and reversible noncovalent binding processes. Multivalency has also become an important tool in the des u of synthetic molecular systems. The result of multiple binding events is not just a simple sum... 

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