1,3,5‐Triazine‐Based Synthons in Supramolecular Chemistry

Interest in supramolecular chemistry has grown significantly during the past two decades. In this context, hydrogen bonding and/or coordinative interactions have been extensively used to generate self‐assembled one‐, two‐ or three‐dimensional polymeric networks. Crystal structure prediction has progressed tremendously, and the challenge for the contemporary supramolecular chemist is now to produce custom‐made functional (and multifunctional) materials involving intermolecular interactions. Since the early 1990s, 1,3,5‐triazine derivatives have shown their potential as building blocks for the preparation of such materials. In this microreview, a selection of outstanding examples of supramolecular networks involving the 1,3,5‐triazine unit are discussed, illustrating the possibility of forming remarkable architectures by means of coordination and/or hydrogen bonds and their applications in host–guest chemistry, catalysis, anion recognition, sensoring, electronics and magnetism. (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2006)