Complex self-assembling systems underpin all life. Collections of molecules may behave in ways that are not immediately obvious in examining the constituents individually; novel properties and functions may emerge from systems. Interested readers are invited to have a look at our Nature Q&A article on this topic.
We recently published some first steps in characterising the behaviour of a complex self-assembling system in "Self-Assembly in Systems of Subcomponents: Simple Rules, Subtle Consequences", Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2008, 47, 377-380. Provided that certain boundary conditions are fulfilled, the system shown below operates under deterministic control, whereby the stoichiometry of starting subcomponents uniquely determines the ratio of products obtained.
We are also interested in chemical systems that can respond to stimuli in complex ways. As we reported in Nature Chem. 2010, 2, 684-687, different signals (the addition of a metal ion or a molecular subcomponent) are capable of propagating through the network of molecules shown below, prompting the network's reconstitution at each step.
