Functional supramolecular materials: self-assembly of phthalocyanines and porphyrazines

Phthalocyanines and related compounds can self-assemble into columnar structures in the solid and liquid crystalline state, in Langmuir–Blodgett films and in solution. This paper presents an overview of supramolecular architectures that have been constructed using several phthalocyanine and porphyrazine building blocks substituted with hydrocarbon chains and/or crown ether units. The most interesting applications of such highly organized columnar assemblies are in the field of one-dimensional transport of energy, charge and ions.