From Supramolecular Chemistry towards Adaptive Chemistry Perspectives in Chemistry:
Supramolecular chemistry lies beyond molecular chemistry and
aims at generating highly complex chemical systems from molecular components held together by non-covalent intermolecular forces, on the basis of the
molecular information stored in the covalent framework of the components. A step beyond consists in the design of systems undergoing
self-organization, i.e. systems capable of spontaneously generating well-defined functional architectures by self-assembly from their components. Supramolecular chemistry is intrinsically a
dynamic chemistry due to the lability of the interactions connecting the molecular components of a supramolecular entity. The same holds for molecular chemistry when the molecular entity contains covalent bonds that may form and break reversibly. These features allow for a continuous change in constitution by reorganization and exchange of building blocks and define a
Constitutional Dynamic Chemistry on both levels. They implement variation and selection leading to the emergence of an
adaptive chemistry on the way towards complex matter.
References Ø Lehn, J.-M.,
Supramolecular Chemistry: Concepts and Perspectives, VCH Weinheim, 1995. Ø Lehn, J.-M.,
Dynamic combinatorial chemistry and virtual combinatorial libraries,
Chem. Eur. J., 1999, 5, 2455. Ø Lehn, J.-M.,
Toward complex matter: Supramolecular chemistry and self-organization, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2002, 99, 4763. Ø Lehn, J.-M.,
From supramolecular chemistry towards constitutional dynamic chemistry and adaptive chemistry, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2007, 36, 151. Ø Lehn, J.-M., Chapter 1, in
Constitutional Dynamic Chemistry, ed. M. Barboiu,
Topics Curr. Chem, 2012,
322, 1-32. Ø Lehn, J.-M.,
Perspectives in Chemistry – Steps towards Complex Matter, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2013,
52, 2836-2850. Ø Lehn, J.-M., Perspectives in Chemistry
– Aspects of Adaptive Chemistry and Materials, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2015,
54, 3276-3289.
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