ABSTRACT
Many of the reactions that vanadate undergoes suggest that by making use of solution-phase self-assembly processes, it might be possible to form supramolecular vanadium-anchored chains and networks when appropriate ligands are used. It seems that for this to succeed, bidentate building blocks will generally be required. Vanadium does not easily forgo the oxo (V=O) bond, and therefore, complexation by two tridentate ligands is not generally a favored coordination, though the situation might well be different in an anhydrous oxygen-free environment. Surprisingly enough, aqueous surfactant solutions provide a medium for self-assembly of nanowires and nanotubes. This opens up the possibility of using the unique flow and magnetic self-alignment properties of lyotropic liquid crystals for imposing specific physical characteristics on such entities.
