Supramolecular Chemistry

Aim

Supramolecular chemistry is a rapidly growing field at the boundary between several physical and chemical disciplines, and this course brings together aspects of those which are of relevance to supramolecular chemistry. The students will be introduced to the subject background, acquire in-depth knowledge about supramolecular building blocks, structures and methods, and learn about applications, with some emphasis on life sciences and its technologies. This implies that after the course, the students shall

• be able to account for fundamental concepts, methods and theories within supramolecular chemistry.
• be able to understand and account for current problems and research in the field.
• have special competence about the importance of supramolecular association within the life sciences and life science technologies.
• have practical experience from analytical methods for characterization of supramolecular systems.
• be able to interpret, analyse och evaluate experimental data of supramolecular interactions.

Content

Introduction and background to the subject of supramolecular chemistry. Introduction to bottom-up methods: intermolecular forces and non-covalent interactions, inter- and intramolecular self-association, self-organization, supramolecular topology. Molecular recognition and complementarity, natural and synthetic host-guest pairs, lock-and-key versus induced-fit models. Chelators, koordination chemistry, cooperativity, multivalency. Organic and biomolecular building blocks. Biological membranes: structure, phase behaviour, domain formation, model systems, protein-membrane interaction, evolutionary aspects. Proteins and peptides: folding, synthesis strategies, labeling, immobilization, natural and synthetic receptors. Surface modification: 2- and 3-dimensional modification, monolayers versus hydrogels. Carbohydrates: biological and biomimetic recognition, coupling chemistry, receptors, molecular design and synthesis. A selection of application areas, such as sensor technology, membrane biophysics, proteomics, biomaterials, drug delivery, molecular devices, nanotechnology.