Van Der Waals

4. Supramolecular Host–Guest Complexation and Self-Assembly (Cohesion)

• IMFs involved: Hydrophobic, hydrogen bonding, π–π stacking, cation–π, van der Waals
• Why common: Supramolecular chemistry is defined by IMFs. Host–guest binding, self-assembly, and molecular recognition are ubiquitous in chemistry, biology, and materials science.
• Examples:
  • Cyclodextrin/drug inclusion complexes
  • Cucurbituril–guest binding
  • DNA base pairing (H-bonding + π-stacking)
  • Protein–ligand binding (hydrophobic + H-bonding + π–π)
  • Micelle and bilayer formation (hydrophobic)
  • Metal–organic framework (MOF) assembly (coordination + π–π + H-bonding)
  • Rotaxane/catenane template synthesis
• Role of IMFs: These reactions are IMF-driven—binding, recognition, and assembly are entirely noncovalent.