Self-assembled Macrocycles: Design Strategies and Emerging Functions

Molecular self-assembly is an essential process in biological systems to perform sophisticated functions. Along the same line, development of artificial self-assembled systems has considerable interest in emulating biological functions and developing new materials. While several small molecules have been used mainly as a building block for self-assembly to obtain a desirable function, very recently, shape-persistent, rigid macrocycles emerged as potential monomers due to their tunable cavity size that does not collapse upon self-assembly. This perspective focuses on emerging aspects of self-assembled macrocycles. First, we have highlighted some strategies and prominent noncovalent interactions that drive the self-assembly process. This overview concludes with a careful survey of the current trend and emerging applications of these kinds of systems with a focus on molecular recognition, catalysis, separation, transportation, soft materials, drug delivery, and sensing. It covers some of the most recent and important advances in the design and application of self-assembled macrocycles and provides a perspective for their further development.

Automated summary

Molecular self-assembly is an important process in biological systems and has great potential in various applications. Recently, shape-persistent and rigid macrocycles have emerged as potential monomers for self-assembly. This perspective provides an overview of the strategies, noncovalent interactions, applications, and future development of self-assembled macrocycles.