Rational Design for Complementary Donor-Acceptor Recognition Pairs Using Self-Complementary Hydrogen Bonds.

An adaptable and efficient molecular recognition pair has been established by taking advantage of the complementary nature of donor-acceptor interactions together with the strength of hydrogen bonds. Such distinct molecular recognition propagates in orthogonal directions to effect extended alternating co-assembly of two different appended molecular entities. The dimensions of the assembled structures can be tuned by stoichiometric imbalance between the donor and acceptor building blocks. The morphology of the self-assembled material can be correlated with the ratio of the two building blocks.