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.