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Updated: May 10, 2026

Self-assembly of Complex Two-dimensional Shapes from Single-stranded DNA Tiles
Published on: May 8, 2015
Orthogonality in discrete self-assembly--survey of current concepts
Manik Lal Saha1, Soumen De, Susnata Pramanik
1Center of Micro and Nanochemistry and Engineering, Department of Chemistry and Biology, Organische Chemie I, Universität Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Str. 2, D-57068 Siegen, Germany.
Abstract:
Over years, mathematicians, biologists and chemists have capitalised on the highly useful concept of orthogonality for developing sophisticated complex systems. The use of orthogonal pairs ensures that any modification made on one pair does not propagate any effect onto the other. While the concept equally pertains to dynamic supramolecular interactions, interference-free self-assembly built on multiple orthogonal interactions is still limited and the underlying notions are not yet firmly established. Herein, we identify, classify and evaluate dynamic interactions in various orthogonal settings in order to distill out general recommendations for reliable dynamic orthogonality. Our classification has to exclude templating, allosteric and/or cooperative effects as the latter are specific for individual cases only.
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