ABSTRACT
Life on earth begins with the self-organization of molecules. No life would be possible without the self-assembly of lipids into bilayers within the cell membrane. Molecular self-assembly and selforganization are nature’s elegant and effective tools/strategies for the dynamic functional materials of life. The supramolecular engines of creation, that is, DNA, proteins, enzymes, etc., are created by the hierarchical organization of small prototype discrete molecular building blocks by using molecular recognition and supramolecular interactions [1,2]. Nature utilizes supramolecular interactions, that is, non-covalent intermolecular interactions otherwise known as molecular information, such as hydrogen bonding, π-stacking, polar-nonpolar interactions, metal coordination, charge transfer complex, ionic interactions, etc., to build dynamic functional soft materials (α-helix and β-pleated structures of polypeptides, formation of double helix of nucleic acids, etc.) by the process of selfassembly and self-organization at different molecular levels and accomplish the desired biological functions (DNA replication, reversible binding of oxygen to hemoglobin, molecular motors, ion pumps, etc.) that are vital for life [3]. The often-cited beauty of self-assembly and self-organization is their spontaneity [4]. Spontaneous self-assembly and self-organization to supramolecular functional nanostructures is nature’s solution to vital biological processes. The supramolecular organization, while dynamic in nature, is stable enough to small environmental perturbations. The stability of supramolecular aggregates is determined by the number density of a particular interaction and the number of different supramolecular interactions involved in the self-organization process [2-4]. The double helix of DNA reveals and represents one of the most essential and stable supramolecular structures in which single building blocks can organize. Supramolecular systems are scientiƒcally intriguing and challenging because they involve the rational design and development of large-scale structures, leading to molecular materials of dimension similar to those of complex systems found in nature. One of the hallmarks of many self-assembled systems is the presence of liquid crystalline phases [5-16]. In a broad sense, liquid crystals (LCs) can be considered as prototypical selforganizing molecular materials of today [17-21]. Liquid crystals stand between the isotropic liquid and the strongly organized solid state. Similarly, life stands between complete disorder which is death, and complete rigidity, which is death again [22]. In materials science, non-covalent interactions have been used to obtain well-deƒned, self-assembled architectures in neat systems as well as in solvents. LCs belong to one of such systems. Supramolecular interactions such as van der Waals forces, dipolar and quadrupolar interactions, charge transfer interactions and hydrogen bonding, etc., play a crucial role in the formation of LCs and in the determination of their mesomorphic properties.
