Towards tobacco mosaic virus‐like self‐assembled supramolecular architectures

This paper discusses the molecular design of selected examples of structural units containing taper shaped exo‐receptors and various crown ether, oligooxyethylenic, and H‐bonding based endo‐receptors, which self‐assemble into cylindrical channel‐like architectures via principles resembling those of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). The ability of these structural units to self‐ assemble via a delicate combination of exo‐and endo‐recognition processes will be presented. A comparison between various supramolecular (generated via H‐bonding, ionic, and electrostatic interactions) and molecular “polymer backbones” will be made. The present limitations concerning the ability to engineer the structural parameters of these supramolecular channel‐like architectures and some possible novel material functions derived from them will be briefly mentioned.