Photochemistry of supramolecular systems and nanostructured assemblies. in memory of Professor Nick Turro (1938-2012)

Photochemistry is an important branch of modern science at the crossroads of chemistry, physics, and biology, with implications in the fields of engineering andmedicine. It encompasses phenomena which are of the utmost relevance both for living organisms and for technology. Research on biological systems in the past four decades has shownmagnificently that the value of the function that can be obtained from the interaction between light and matter is highly dependent on the degree of organization and complexity of the matter that has to receive and process the photons. In the same period ‘the chemistry beyond the molecule’ – that is, supramolecular chemistry – moved its first steps and rapidly established itself as one of the most flourishing areas of chemical sciences. The idea began to arise that molecules might be used as building blocks for the assembly of multicomponent materials and nanoscale devices exhibiting novel and valuable functionalities. In more recent times, the set of components that may be used to assemble new systems and materials by a bottom-up approach has been further extended, owing to the progress in the synthesis and characterization of nanoscale crystals of various sizes and shapes, tubes, wires, ribbons, capsules, graphene derivatives, monolayers, and so on.