ATP-induced supramolecular assembly based on chromophoric organic molecules and metal complexes

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), known as a common metabolic product in organism, is not only importance to provide energy in various cellular activities but also is widely explored in the bio-inspired synthetic supramolecular area which becomes a fascinating topic with the rapid development of biology, chemistry and materials science. In this review, the recent advances about ATP interacted with functional small organic compounds and metal coordinated complexes are summarized. The design principles, its function as an active supramolecular matrix, the associated non-covalent binding modes and assembly induced properties including the optical properties, morphologies are presented in details. Besides, their applications for metal ion detecting, enzyme activity monitoring and drug delivery are described due to their excellently dynamic assembly properties, adjustability, and response to stimuli. Finally, an overview of the existing challenges and future prospects of ATP-induced supramolecular systems are also discussed.