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Supramolecular chemistry has become an interdisciplinary discipline of chemistry, physics, and biology. As a huge subunit of supramolecular compounds, the functional metal–organic supramolecular systems with well‐defined cavities which are able to accommodate size‐suitable guests via benign host‐guest behavior, have been known as "metal–organic molecular containers" (MOMCs) and attracted much attentions for their rich chemical properties and wide potential applications in molecular recognition, catalysis, bio‐medical and other fields. In particular, the MOMCs with flexible backbones exhibit a unique feature both in the aspect of structural construction and applications, due to the free rotation and self‐adaptively of the specific functional groups in the skeletons. In this paper, we review several selected examples of the coordination‐driven metal–organic supramolecular systems from the aspects of self‐assembly construction to the various applications. The self‐assembly strategies, especially the different choice of organic ligands with flexible backbones during the construction, leading to quite diverse configurations compared to the rigid ligands, have been also discussed to show a different perspective of metal–organic system construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Full Paper reports the formation of silver (Ag) NPs within spatially resolved two‐component hydrogel beads, which combine a low‐molecular‐weight gelator (LMWG) DBS‐CONHNH2 and a polymer gelator (PG) calcium alginate. The AgNPs are formed through in situ reduction of AgI, with the resulting nanoparticle‐loaded gels being characterised in detail. The antibacterial activity of the nanocomposite gel beads was tested against two drug‐resistant bacterial strains, often associated with hospital‐acquired infections: vancomycin‐resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA14), and the AgNP‐loaded gels showed good antimicrobial properties against both types of bacteria. It is suggested that the gel bead format of these AgNP‐loaded hybrid hydrogels makes them promising versatile materials for potential applications in orthopaedics or wound healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lipid–porphyrin conjugates are considered as promising building blocks for supramolecular structures with multifunctional properties such as those required for anticancer photodynamic therapy. The Full Paper by A. Makky et al. on page 19179 ff. describes the synthesis of two new lipid‐porphyrin conjugates by coupling chlorophyll‐a derivative, pheophorbide‐a, to natural phospholipids. These conjugates exhibited self‐assembling properties, high loading rate in liposomes membranes, interesting optical behavior and promising photodynamic activity with better selectivity in vitro to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma relative to normal cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self ‐ assembly is a powerful synthetic tool that has led to the development of one ‐ , two ‐ and three ‐ dimensional architectures. Herein a strategy for the construction and de ‐ construction of a supramolecular structure through light ‐ induced assembly and dis ‐ assembly is described. These results open the way to a new avenue in supramolecular chemistry, leading to the preparation of structurally ‐ organized assemblies by photochemical techniques. More information can be found in the Full Paper by G. S. Hanan et al. on page 16497. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple particle counting cannot in general be reliably employed to predict the observed architecture as DFT analysis shows that vibrational contributions to entropy dominate and may significantly influence the preferred architecture. However, simple particle counting, which predicts triangles over squares, is seen to be correct here, and DFT confirms the triangles are energetically favored over the corresponding squares. Image kindly created by Michael Crawford (Dunedin). More information can be found in the Full Paper by A. L. Garden, S. Brooker et al. on page 14193. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assembly arrangement of nucleobase ‐ appended terpyridine cobalt(II) complexes, [Co(A ‐ C6 ‐ terpy)2](BF4)2 and [Co(T ‐ C6 ‐ terpy)2](BF4)2 is investigated. In addition a single crystal structure of heteroleptic terpyridine cobalt(II) complexes, [Co(A ‐ C6 ‐ terpy)(T ‐ C6 ‐ terpy)](BF4)2 has been obtained successfully for the first time. The complex exhibited dimer ring structure through the base pairings. This result shows that use of base pairings is useful for construction of supramolecular structures. For more details, see the Full Paper by S. Hayami et al. on page 7232 ff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NMR analysis reveals that quartet assemblies formed by a guanosine building block in solution can transform into a mixture of quartet (Q) and ribbon (R) ‐ like assemblies after solvent evaporation. Our results demonstrate that the existence of a stable supramolecular structure in solution or in the solid state may not reflect its stability and integrity in another phase. More information can be found in the Full Paper by S. P. Brown et al. on page 2315 ff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self‐organization of phthalocyanines has been programmed on a porphyrin template. Two phthalocyanines with four peripheral crown ether units are stacked cofacially on a porphyrin bearing four alkylammonium chains, in accordance with the number of ammonium groups on the side chain, through fourfold rotaxane formation. Significant electronic interaction is observed between the closely stacked phthalocyanines. More information can be found in the Full Paper by K. Tanaka, et al. on page 12371 ff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The β ‐ cyclodextrin/azobenzene host – guest binding site has a pronounced effect on the morphology, size, dynamic self ‐ assembly process, and controlled release function of two thermo ‐ and photoresponsive Y ‐ shaped supramolecular polymer self ‐ assemblies. The binding ‐ site ‐ tunable self ‐ assembly can be attributed to the positive cooperativity generated amongst adjacent binding sites on the surfaces of supramolecular polymer self ‐ assemblies. More information can be found in the Full Paper by W. Tian et al. on page 8508 ff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rational and convenient synthetic route for the preparation of stable 2‐substituted benzo‐1,3‐chalcogenazoles is presented. The electron‐depleted σ‐holes on the chalcogen atoms are exploited to trigger programmed two‐ (X⋅⋅⋅Y) or three‐atoms (X⋅⋅⋅Y⋅⋅⋅X) supramolecular interactions in the solid state; this gives wirelike structures in the presence of suitable N‐containing ligands. More information can be found in the Full Paper by D. Bonifazi, et al. on page 5665 ff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative removal of sulfate from seawater was achieved by selective crystallization of the anion with a bis(guanidinium) ligand self‐assembled in situ through imine condensation of simple components. The resulting crystalline salt has an exceptionally low aqueous solubility, on a par with BaSO4. Single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis revealed pairs of sulfate anions clustered together with four water molecules within the crystals. More information can be found in the Full Paper by R. Custelcean et al. on page 1997 ff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multifunctional tri(carbazole – triazole) macrocycles were prepared in a one ‐ pot synthesis. They can be adsorbed from solution onto graphite surfaces and into well ‐ ordered stacked films under the direction of lateral hydrogen bonding, co ‐ facial stacking interactions, and steric contacts. Anion ‐ binding affinity arising from CH hydrogen bonds directed into the central cavity is active in both solution and the adsorbed states; anion ‐ binding events modify the film structure. More information can be found in the Full Paper by S. L. Tait, A. H. Flood et al. on page 560 ff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diimidazolium functionalized perylene bisimide salts conjugate two well ‐ known aggregation motifs, perylene bisimides and imidazolium salts. This conjunction brings about H ‐ aggregates underpinned by π – π stacking and hydrogen ‐ bonding interactions, formed by an enthalpy ‐ driven, isodesmic aggregation process. The solvent plays a significant role in determining the aggregation of the salts studied. Morphological analysis points out that these salts self ‐ assemble into elongated structures. The complete story can be found in the Full Paper by F. D′Anna, S. Marullo and co ‐ workers on page 14780 ff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Right angles at the right place! The orthogonally disposed functional groups on the indane wings of the tribenzotriquinacene molecular skeleton offer the perfect geometry to enable the assembly of molecular metallosquares that use organic ligands as vertices. The insert highlights that, starting from the same optically pure monomer unit, the tetrameric chiral molecular square can be prepared through two complementary synthetic routes. For more information please refer to the Full Paper by H. ‐ F. Chow, X. ‐ P. Cao, D. Kuck, and co ‐ workers on page 12011 ff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self ‐ assembled stacks of triarylamines are generated by simple light irradiation. These p ‐ doped columnar arrangements can produce a variety of liquid crystalline mesophases, which strongly depend on the lateral substitutions. For more information, see the Full Paper by N. Giuseppone and co ‐ workers on page 1938 ff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supramolecular nanomaterials  for bulk heterojunction organic solar cells have been designed and constructed through hierarchical organization of hydrogen ‐ bonded rosette assembly of barbituric ‐ acid ‐ conjugated oligothiophene semiconductors. A solar cell using one of the nanomaterials exhibited a power conversion efficiency exceeding 3%. For more details, see the Full Paper by S. Yagai et al. on page 16128 ff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]