Toward self-organization and complex matter.
Beyond molecular chemistry based on the covalent bond, supramolecular chemistry aims at developing highly complex chemical systems from components interacting through noncovalent intermolecular forces. Over the past quarter century, supramolecular chemistry has grown into a major field and has fueled numerous developments at the interfaces with biology and physics. Some of the conceptual advances and future challenges are profiled here.
Lehn
Jean-Marie
JM
Institut de Science et d'Ingénierie Supramoléculaires (ISIS), Université Louis Pasteur, 67000 Strasbourg, and Collège de France, 75005 Paris, France. lehn@chimie.u-strasbg.fr
D001695:Biology; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D002627:Chemistry, Physical; D015394:Molecular Structure; D036103:Nanotechnology; D055585:Physical Phenomena; D010825:Physics; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry
D011108:Polymers