Molecular self-assembly
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In chemistry and materials science, molecular self-assembly is the process by which molecules adopt a defined arrangement without guidance or management from an outside source. There are two types of
AFM image of napthalenetetracarboxylic diimide molecules on silver interacting via hydrogen bonding at 77 K. ("Hydrogen bonds" in the top image are exaggerated by artifacts of the imaging technique.)
STM image of self-assembled Br4-pyrene molecules on Au(111) surface (top) and its model (bottom; pink spheres are Br atoms).
Br 4Py self assembly on Au
Folding (chemistry)
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In chemistry, folding is the process by which a molecule assumes its shape or conformation. The process can also be described as intramolecular self-assembly, a type of molecular self-assembly, where
Molecular self-assembly
…self-assembly: intermolecular and intramolecular. Commonly, the term molecular self-assembly refers to the former, while the latter is more commonly called folding. Molecular self-assembly is a key concept in supramolecular chemistry. This is because assembly of molecules in such systems is directed through…
Crystal structure of a foldamer reported by Lehn and coworkers in Helv. Chim. Acta., 2003, 86, 1598–1624.