π–π INTERACTIONS IN SELF‐ASSEMBLY

The recent surge of interest in the control of molecular organization in both the solution state (i.e. self-assembly) and the solid state (i.e. crystal engineering) has led researchers to recognize increasingly the importance of weak non-covalent interactions. The design and synthesis of an efficient molecular construction set are dependent upon a very close interplay between x-ray crystallography and synthetic chemistry. π–π Stacking interactions between π-donors, such as hydroquinone, resorcinol or dioxynaphthalene residues, and π-accepting ring systems, such as bipyridinium or π-extended viologen units, can govern the self-assembly of a variety of complexes and interlocked molecular compounds in both the solid and solution states. Non-covalent bonding interactions (i.e. π–π interactions) can be considered as information vectors: they define and rule the self-assembly processes that lead to the formation of the desired molecular and supramolecular architectures, and thereafter they still govern the dynamic processes occurring within the self-assembled structures and superstructures. The manner in which such molecules and supermolecules can contribute to an understanding of non-covalent interactions at both structural and superstructural levels is described, with reference to numerous examples of self-assembly processes in synthesis, of dynamic processes in the solution state, and of the packing of molecules and molecular complexes in the solid state. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.