Pnicogen Bonds: A New Molecular Linker?

In the past decades a lot of progress has been achieved in the design of miniaturized systems. For instance, the manufacture of computer chips employing optical technologies, for example, phototemplating, is well established. However, optical procedures are limited to approximately 50 nm. Alternatively, nanostructures may be formed by means of self assembly systems. Besides the arrangement of the molecular building blocks by hydrogen bonds or inorganic metal-ligand bonds, unexpected strong chalcogen-chalcogen interactions or halogen bonds have captured interest as connectors. A large number of selective locks and keys increase the variety of possible complex structures. However, the utility of strong nonbonding interactions is not solely limited to the nanoscale. A targeted arrangement of these linkers even allows the design of self-healing rubberlike materials. These selected examples illustrate the importance to gain knowledge of directional molecular interactions © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.