Supramolecular Chemistry and Self-Organization: A Veritable Playground for Catalysis

Abstract

The directed assembly of molecular building blocks into discrete supermolecules or extended supramolecular networks through noncovalent intermolecular interactions is an ongoing challenge in chemistry. This challenge may be overcome by establishing a hierarchy of intermolecular interactions that, in turn, may facilitate the edification of supramolecular assemblies. As noncovalent interactions can be used to accelerate the reaction rates and/or to increase their selectivity, the development of efficient and practical catalytic systems, using supramolecular chemistry, has been achieved during the last few decades. However, between discrete and extended supramolecular assemblies, the newly developed “colloidal tectonics” concept allows us to link the molecular and macroscopic scales through the structured engineering of colloidal structures that can be applied to the design of predictable, versatile, and switchable catalytic systems. The main cutting-edge strategies involving supramolecular chemistry and self-organization in catalysis will be discussed and compared in this review.

Main Applications of Cyclodextrins in the Food Industry as the Compounds of Choice to Form Host–Guest Complexes

“…A recent advance in this field consists of using CDs as an enzymatic mimic, since a molecular recognition phenomenon occurs due to the groups substituted in the CDs [ 92 ]. For example, β- or γ-CDs can be used in benzoin condensation with a rate increase of 7-fold [ 128 ]. Another example is a molecular catalyst of Pd/β-CDs, which shapes inclusion complexes with small organic compounds.…”

A platinum nanoparticle doped self-assembled peptide bolaamphiphile hydrogel as an efficient electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction

“…[38][39][40][41] Also, the nanomaterials doped in self-assembling systems help to enhance the catalytic activity towards various electrochemical process. 42,43 The peptides with various functionalities can self-assemble into various supramolecular nanostructures with large structural diversity on the micrometric and nanometric scale. 44 Peptides with various functional groups as strong metal-binding sites such as -COOH, -OH and -SH and secondary structures lead to the stronger interaction between peptide and inorganic nanomaterial.…”

Green Efficient One-Pot Synthesis and Separation of Nitrones in Water Assisted by a Self-Assembled Nanoreactor

“…Therefore, it is evident to make parallelisms between the active enzyme sites and the microenvironments of the supramolecular hosts, since both are based on molecular recognition, substrate isolation, and conformational control. Nowadays, a wide range of supramolecular systems that try to mimic the work carried out by enzymes have been reported in the literature, and various types of building blocks are being studied, producing a wide range of cavities that can be used for catalysis [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. This work aims to use the already reported tetrahedral capsule 1 ( Figure 1 ) as a nanoconfining catalyst in water.…”