G. Whitesides, E. Simanek, J. Mathias
1995
Citations
1
Influential Citations
760
Citations
Quality indicators
Journal
Accounts of Chemical Research
Abstract
A molecule is usually understood to be a stable collection of atoms connected bv a continuous network of covalent bonds. The develipment of methods for constructing these networks has been a central occupation of organic chemistry, and the success of these methods has made possible the power, elegance, and utility of modern organic synthesis. The preparations of vitamin B12,l palytoxin,2 calicheamicin,3 and other complex secondary metabolites illustrate the extraordinary sophistication of this field. This type of synthesis-which we refer to as covalent synthesis, in the absence of a better termcontinues to expand its capabilities, but it may be understandably difficult to provide very large and structurally complex molecules quickly and economically by using it.4 Organic chemistry has always taken much of its inspiration and motivation from Nature. As biological molecules-especially large molecules having complex tertiary structures such as proteins, DNA, and RNA-have become central concerns of organic chemistry, noncovalent interactions have moved toward the center of attention. Although biological macromolecules are largely composed of Covalent bonds, the networks of these bonds are not always continuous, and many important structures-including multimeric proteins and DNA itself-are "aggregates" and not simply "molecules". Many biological molecules and aggregates derive much of their unique structure and function from noncovalent interactions: that is, from