6. Formation of Hydrogen-Bonded Self-assembled Structures in Polar Solvents

In this chapter a few recent examples of H-bond driven supramolecular assemblies in aqueous and polar organic media are discussed. H-bonding has been extensively utilized in the past for the generation of various nanostructures but those studies were mainly restricted to non-polar organic media. In recent years, however, the attention has shifted to obtain similar assemblies also in aqueous and polar media. The main principles that have been employed for this purpose are shielding of H-bonds from competing solvent molecules by hydrophobic residues or strengthening them by additional interactions such as electrostatic interactions or π–π stacking. The examples discussed here highlight the key structural features of the building blocks used and present an overview of the different types of nanostructures obtained with an emphasis on the functional properties of the resulting materials.