Everything about Molecular Self-assembly totally explained
Molecular self-assembly is the assembly of
molecules without guidance or management from an outside source.There are two types of
self-assembly,
intramolecular self-assembly and
intermolecular self-assembly. Most often the term molecular self-assembly refers to intermolecular self-assembly, while the intramolecular analog is more commonly called
folding.
Supramolecular Systems
Molecular self-assembly is a key concept in
supramolecular chemistry since assembly of the molecules is directed through noncovalent interactions, such as
hydrogen bonding, metal coordination,
hydrophobic forces,
van der Waals forces,
π-π interactions, and/or electrostatic effects. Simple examples include the formation of a
micelle or a
Langmuir monolayer by
surfactant molecules in solution. More advanced examples of
supramolecular assemblies demonstrate that a variety of different shapes and sizes can be obtained using molecular self-assembly.
Biological Systems
Molecular self-assembly is crucial to the function of
cells. It is exhibited in the self-assembly of
lipids to form the
membrane, the formation of double helical DNA through hydrogen bonding of the individual strands, and the assembly of proteins to form
quaternary structures. Molecular self-assembly of incorrectly folded proteins into insoluble
amyloid fibers is responsible for infectious
prion-related neurodegenerative diseases.
Nanotechnology
Molecular self-assembly is an important aspect of
bottom-up approaches to
nanotechnology. Using molecular self-assembly the final (desired) structure is programmed in the shape and functional groups of the molecules. Self-assembly is referred to as a 'bottom-up' manufacturing technique in contrast to a 'top-down' technique such as lithography where the desired final structure is carved from a larger block of matter. In the speculative vision of
molecular nanotechnology, microchips of the future might be made by molecular self-assembly. An advantage to constructing nanostructure using molecular self-assembly for biological materials is that that'll degrade back into individual molecules that can be broken down by the body.
DNA nanotechnology
DNA nanotechnology is an area of current research that uses the bottom-up, self-assembly approach for nanotechnological goals. DNA nanotechnology uses the unique
molecular recognition properties of
DNA and other nucleic acids to create self-assembing branched DNA complexes with useful properties. DNA is thus used as a structural material rather than as a carrier of biological information, to make structures such as two-dimensional periodic lattices (both tile-based as well as using the "
DNA origami" method) and three-dimensional structures in the shapes of
polyhedra. These DNA structures have also been used to template the assembly of other molecules such as
gold nanoparticles and
streptavidin proteins.
Further Information
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