Supramolecular Structures - Reason and Imagination

Supramolecular chemistry is the chemistry of the intermolecular bond and is based on the theme of mutual recognition. Such recognition is characterized by chemical and geometrical complementarity between interacting molecules. With the awareness that an organic crystal may be treated as a supermolecule, crystal engineering, the design of crystal structures, may be considered as a supramolecular equivalent of organic synthesis. Crystal engineering has been developed by structural chemists and crystallographers to better understand noncovalent interactions for the design of novel materials and solid-state reactions. The subject consists of two main components, analysis and synthesis, and because of this its resemblance to classical organic chemistry is marked. The concepts and principles of recognition and the nature of the interactions that mediate supramolecular construction in the solid state constitute the analytical component while the synthetic component consists of the strategies employed in the design of solids with particular topological and functional properties. Reason and imagination therefore come into play simultaneously in the quest for new functionalized solids.