Supramolecular Chemistry

Supramolecular Chemistry: the domain of chemistry beyond that of molecules and focuses on the chemical systems made up of a discrete number of assembled molecular subunits or components. While traditional chemistry focuses on the covalent bond, supramolecular chemistry examines the weaker and reversible noncovalent interactions between molecules. These forces include hydrogen bonding, metal coordination, hydrophobic forces, van der Waals forces, pi-pi interactions and electrostatic effects. The study of non-covalent interactions is crucial to understanding many biological processes from cell structure to vision that rely on these forces for structure and function.