MOLECULAR-RECOGNITION-DIRECTED SELF-ASSEMBLY OF SUPRAMOLECULAR POLYMERS

The first part of this paper discusses the molecular design of selecte d examples of structural units containing taper-shaped exo-receptors a nd various crown ether, oligooxyethylenic, and H-bonding-based endo-re ceptors, which self-assemble into cylindrical channel-like architectur es via principles resembling those of tobacco mosaic virus. The abilit y of these structural units to self-assemble via a delicate combinatio n of exo- and endo-recognition processes will be presented. A comparis on between various supramolecular (generated via H-bonding, ionic, and electrostatic interactions) and molecular ''polymer backbones'' will be made. The present limitations concerning the ability to engineer th e structural parameters of these supramolecular channel-like architect ures and some possible novel material functions derived from them will be briefly mentioned. The second part of this paper discusses our res earch on the molecular design of a novel class of macrocyclics which s elf-assemble via intramolecular recognition processes into supramolecu lar ''rodlike'' collapsed macrocyclics which display thermotropic liqu id crystalline mesophases. It is demonstrated that these macrocyclics have a higher ability to form liquid crystalline phases than the corre sponding linear compounds which have identical or even higher degrees of polymerization. Therefore, they represent the ideal molecular archi tectures which generate mesophases.