Complex Systems from Simple Building Blocks via Subcomponent Self-Assembly

Subcomponent self-assembly allows for the construction of complex architectures from simple building blocks via the simultaneous, reversible formation of covalent and coordinative bonds. Complex structures may be rapidly built by taking advantage of the different and complementary selectivities of covalent and coordinative bond-forming reactions. Because both kinds of bonds are formed under thermodynamic control, a wide variety of rearrangement reactions are possible involving substitution at both intraligand and metal-ligand bonds. Understanding the selectivities that underlie these reactions also allows one to pick out specific products from among diverse dynamic combinatorial libraries of interconverting structures.