Self-Assemblies, Folding, and Properties of Perylene Monomers, Oligomers, and Polymers - Molecular Self-Assembly: Advances and Applications - page 123

Chapter 5

Self-Assemblies, Folding, and Properties
of Perylene Monomers, Oligomers, and
Polymers

Alexander D. Q. Li
Department of Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman,
Washington 99164-0001, USA
[e-mail]

5.1 Introduction

Life is a process of self-assembly. Nature uses this fundamental
principle of self-assembly to synthesize biopolymers and to construct
complex living creatures. For example, proteins, which are made of
amino acid monomer units, self-assemble to form nanomachinery
to copy another biopolymer such as DNA. These assemblies hardly
occur randomly, but rather they follow specific molecular recognition
rules. When properly designed, molecules can function as codes via
molecular self-assemblies; such molecular communication between
molecules resembles language or digital calculations in computing.
This principle is illustrated in DNA or RNA, a linear polymer containing
a sequence of codes. These codes can be copied via a protein