At the onset of the nanotechnology age, molecular designing of materials and single molecule studies are opening wide possibilities of using molecular systems in electronic and photonic devices, as well as in technological applications based on molecular switching or molecular recognition. In this sense, inorganic chemists are privileged by the possibility of using the basic strategies of coordination chemistry to build up functional supramolecular materials, conveying the remarkable chemical properties of the metal centers and the characteristics of the ancillary ligands. Coordination chemistry also provides effective self-assembly strategies based on specific metal-ligand affinity and stereochemistry. Several molecular based materials, derived from inorganic and metal-organic compounds are focused on this article, with emphasis on new supramolecular porphyrins and porphyrazines, metal-clusters and metal-polyimine complexes. Such systems are also discussed in terms of their applications in catalysis, sensors and molecular devices.
molecular nanotechnology; supramolecular chemistry; molecular devices; molecular films; sensors
