Design and Control of the Structure of Polymers and Molecular Aggregates in the Solid Lattice: Synthetic and Self-Assembly Approach

The design and synthesis of oligomers and polymers with a well-defined structure has shown considerable success in recent years [1,2]. However, to fine tune the structure of a macromolecule and to obtain the desired electronic, photonic and thermal properties which are often the direct result of macroscopic order of molecules in the solid lattice, remains to be a challenge [3]. Two approaches are pursued towards designing polymers with well-defined structure. The first method rests on the careful choice of a monomer with multiple functional groups. This is particularly important for the synthesis of defect-free double stranded ladder-type polymers. The second method explores the self-assembly of small molecules and polymeric materials to form supramolecular structures. Here, the weak intermolecular interactions, such as hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces, are used to tune the structural organization of the self-complementary molecular components. Both of these approaches have been exploited by many research groups [4,5].