ABSTRACT
“Bottom-up approach” refers to the methodology of preparing nanostructures via self-assembly of molecular building blocks mediated by programmed fast, reversible interactions. Expanded from non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding and metal coordination, which have been well exploited in developing exquisite supramolecular assemblages of nanometer dimensions, the so-called “fast, reversible interactions” refer to both non-covalent and covalent forces that are under thermodynamic control and reach equilibria over reasonable reaction time frames practiced in typical chemical laboratories (e.g., hours). In this entry, a number of nanostructures, mostly two dimensional, prepared via bottom-up approaches are described. The building blocks encompass small molecules and ions, peptides, and nucleic acids.
