Self-assemblies through coordination structure

The structural chemistry of some metal dithiocarbamates, i.e. systematics, coordination modes, crystal packing, and supramolecular self-assembly patterns of nickel, zinc, cadmium, mercury,363 organotin,364 and tellurium,365 366 complexes has been thoroughly analyzed and discussed in detail. Supramolecular self-assembly frequently occurs in non-transition heavier soft metal dithiocarbamates. Thus, lead(II),367 bismuth(III)368 zinc,369 cadmium,370 and (organo)mercury371 dithiocarbamates are associated through M- S secondary bonds, to form either dimeric supermolecules or chain-like supramolecular arrays. The arsenic(III)372 and antimony(III)373 dithiocarbamates are... 

While the aforementioned technologies focus either on bulk or on solid-phase assembly, a more recent innovation in peptide self-assembly has targeted the soft or fluid-fluid interface. Designer peptides of 7 amino acid "heptad repeats" can be reversibly triggered to fold into an a-helix conformation to organize both hydrophilic and hydrophobic faces, thus inducing surfactant-like structure. These peptide surfactants, however, interact with each other in the interfacial plane, through reversible metal-ion coordination... 

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