MOLECULAR RECOGNITION DIRECTED SELF-ASSEMBLY OF SUPRAMOLECULAR ARCHITECTURES

This paper reviews some of our research on three classes of supramolec ular architectures which are generated via various combinations of mol ecular, macromolecular, and supramolecular chemistry. The ability of t hese supramolecular architectures to form liquid crystalline phases is determined by the shape of the self-assembled architecture and will b e used to visualize it via various characterization techniques. The mo lecular design of selected examples of structural units containing tap er-shaped exo-receptors and crown ether, oligooxyethylenic, and H-bond ing based endo-receptors which self-assemble into cylindrical channel- like architectures via principles resembling those of tobacco mosaic v irus (TMV), of macrocyclics which self-assemble into supramolecular ri gid ''rodlike'' architectures and of hyperbranched polymers which self -assemble into a willowlike architecture will be discussed. In the cas e of TMV-like supramolecular architectures, a comparison between vario us supramolecular (generated via H-bonding, ionic, and electrostatic i nteractions) and molecular ''polymer backbones'' will be made. The pre sent state of the art of the engineering of these supramolecular archi tectures and some possible novel material functions derived from them will be briefly mentioned.