Activity Detail
Seminar
From Supramolecular Chemistry Towards Adaptive Chemistry
Jean-Marie Lehn
Molecular chemistry has developed a wide range of very powerful procedures for building ever more complicated molecules from atoms linked by covalent bonds.
Supramolecular chemistry aims at generating complex chemical systems from molecular components held together by non-covalent intermolecular forces and undergoing self-organization. It is intrinsically a dynamic chemistry in view of the lability of the interactions connecting the molecular components of a supramolecular species and the resulting ability to exchange components. The same holds for molecular chemistry when the molecular entity contains covalent bonds that may form and break reversibly. These features allow for a continuous change in constitution by reorganization and exchange of building blocks and define a Constitutional Dynamic Chemistry (CDC) covering both the molecular and supramolecular levels.
CDC takes advantage of dynamic diversity to allow for variation and selection to achieve adaptation in response to a physical stimulus (e.g. temperature) or to a chemical effector such as an enzymatic active site. Applications to biological systems will be described. Of special interest is the case where the driving force is an increase in order.
The implementation of these concepts points to the emergence of adaptive and evolutive chemistry, towards systems of increasing complexity.