Nanoassembly of a fractal polymer: A molecular Sierpinski hexagonal gasket

Mathematics and art converge in the fractal forms that also abound in nature. We used molecular self-assembly to create a synthetic, nanometer-scale, Sierpinski hexagonal gasket. This non-dendritic, perfectly self-similar fractal macromolecule is composed of bis-terpyridine building blocks that are bound together by coordination to 36 Ru and 6 Fe ions to form a nearly planar array of increasingly larger hexagons around a hollow center.