Abstract

Supramolecular Chemistry: An Overview

Author(s): Lucia Thomson

The study of molecular recognition and high-order assemblages created by noncovalent interactions is the subject of supramolecular chemistry, sometimes known as "chemical beyond the molecule." Donald J. Cram, Jean-Marie Lehn, and Charles J. Pedersen were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987 "for their creation and application of compounds having structure-specific interactions of great selectivity." Supramolecular chemistry became a well-known chemical subject as a result of this. Supramolecular systems can respond to stimuli because they are made up of building pieces connected together by noncovalent interactions. Furthermore, intriguing chemical designs that are difficult to build using covalent chemistry, such as rotaxanes, catenanes, and knots, may be easily synthesized using templated synthesis. Supramolecular chemistry has been intensively investigated in a variety of domains, including molecular machines, molecular sensors, gas absorption, nanoreactors, chemical catalysis, and drug delivery, after just around 50 years of study. Supramolecular chemistry is therefore a combination of organic chemistry, physical chemistry, coordination chemistry, polymer chemistry, materials science, biology, and other disciplines.