Nanoarchitectonics with porphyrins and related molecules

An emerging concept, nanoarchitectonics, is supposed to work on the preparation of functional materials systems from nanoscale components. Because porphyrin derivatives show their importance in many research targets, discussions on nanoarchitectonics with porphyrins and related molecules would provide meaningful opportunities to consider effective usages of the nanoarchitectonics. This review article explains various examples of nanoarchitectonics approaches with porphyrin derivatives. The examples are especially focused on two topics: (i) materials nanoarchitectonics for nanofibers, metal-organic frameworks, covalent organic frameworks, and hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks; (ii) interfacial nanoarchitectonics for surface monolayers (self-assembled monolayers), Langmuir-Blodgett films, and layer-by-layer assemblies. Functions and properties can be enhanced upon their organization in specific dimensions and arrangements in nanostructured frameworks. In many cases, interface-specific organization would lead to advanced performances with high efficiency and specificity. Even though only limited examples are described here, various possibilities are actually suggested. Not limited to porphyrin families, nanoarchitectonics for functional materials has to be considered with a wide range of materials.