Mankind's fascination with shapes and patterns, many examples of which come from nature, has greatly influenced areas such as art and architecture. Science too has long since been interested in the origin of shapes and structures found in nature. Whereas organic chemistry in general, and supramolecular chemistry especially, has been very successful in creating large superstructures of often stunning morphology, inorganic chemistry has lagged behind. Over the last decade, however, researchers in various fields of chemistry have been studying novel methods through which the shape of inorganic materials can be controlled at the micro- or even nanoscopic level. A method that has proven very successful is the formation of inorganic structures under the influence of (bio)organic templates, which has resulted in the generation of a large variety of structured inorganic structures that are currently unattainable through any other method.

The helical ribbon and double-layered nanotubular structures of the titanium dioxide were created by sol−gel polymerization of Ti(OiPr)4] using 1 as a template in 1-butanol. All TiO2 nanotubes consist of two layers, 8−9 nm of nanospace between layers. In addition, the helicity of the helical ribbon titanium dioxide showed a right-handed motif.

pH‐sensitive gels: By using a cyclohexane‐based scaffold to which various amino acid based substituents can be connected, low‐molecular‐weight compounds were obtained that can gelate water at very low concentrations. Their modular design (see picture: AA=amino acid(s), X=hydrophilic substituent, dark purple=hydrophobic region, light purple=hydrophilic region), allows tuning of the thermally and pH‐induced reversible gel‐to‐sol transition of their gels.

Reactions of ReO(PPh(3))(2)Cl(3) with tetradentate bis(salicylideneamine) ligands, H(2)salpd (1) and H(2)salbd (2), in different alcohols gave the novel mixed-ligand rhenium complexes ReO(sal)OAlk (OAlk = variety of alkoxy ligands). Configurational studies show that the rhenium complexes ReO(salpd)OAlk (1a-f) display either a symmetrical or a nonsymmetrical configuration, depending on the size of the alcohol and its boiling point. The rhenium complexes ReO(salbd)OAlk (2a-d) are all nonsymmetrical due to the number of carbons that bridge the imine nitrogens. In the case of the symmetrical ReO(salpd)OMe (1a) complex the methoxy ligand can be exchanged for a number of ligands of different types (OAlk, OPh, SAlk, OC(O)Alk). In the newly formed complexes the original configuration was retained except for the ReO(salpd)SAlk (1i,j) complexes which were isolated in the nonsymmetrical configuration. Starting from the nonsymmetrical ReO(salpd)OPr (2c) complex, ligand exchange led to a mixture of the symmetrical and nonsymmetrical complexes, with ratios depending on the reaction time. The crystal structures of ReO(salbd)OPr (2c), and ReO(salpd)OPhOMe (1g) have been determined. ReO(salbd)OPr crystallizes in the triclinic space group P&onemacr;, Z = 2, with a = 10.0344(16) Å, b = 10.647(2) Å, c = 11.481(2) Å, alpha = 86.551(15) degrees, beta = 86.998(14) degrees, gamma = 80.112(15) degrees, V = 1205.1(4) Å(3), and final R = 0.0460. Crystals of ReO(salpd)OPhOMe are orthorhombic, space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), Z = 4, with a = 10.6222(15) Å, b = 12.442(3) Å, c = 16.354(3) Å, V = 2161.4(7) Å(3), and final R = 0.0371. Under the influence of traces of water a number of symmetrical complexes react to a "dimeric" structure, consisting of two ReO(salpd) moieties bridged by an oxygen atom with the bridging Re-O-Re angle symmetrically imposed at 180 degrees. [ReO(salpd)](2)O (3) crystallizes in the monoclinic, space group P2(1)/c, Z = 4, with a = 14.860(2) Å, b = 12.545(2) Å, c = 16.5111(17) Å, beta = 95.030(10) degrees, V = 3066.1(7) Å(3), and final R = 0.0439.