1. General Introduction

Supramolecular chemistry and self-assembly processes have evolved to be one of the most important fields in modern chemistry of the last two decades. Molecular recognition and self-assembly represent the basic concept of supramolecular chemistry and involved noncovalent interactions. Noncovalent interactions (e.g. hydrogen bonding, metal–ligand coordination, electrostatic, and host–guest interactions) are usually weaker than covalent bonds and they are reversible. The use of supramolecular interactions to direct the spontaneous assembly of molecules is of utmost importance due to their high specificity, controlled affinity, and reversibility. These specific and highly controllable interactions can be manipulated independently and simultaneously, providing orthogonal self-assembly which describes the assembly of components with multiple (i.e. more than one) interaction motifs that do not influence each other’s assembly properties, applied in the same system.