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Topic · Organic Chemistry

Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes

Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes is a research topic within Organic Chemistry. Science Explorer counts 21k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the field of supramolecular chemistry, focusing on self-assembly, molecular recognition, and the design of artificial molecular machines. It covers a wide range of topics including host-guest interactions, coordination chemistry, cucurbiturils, dynamic covalent chemistry, and the development of nanoscale devices.

  • Supramolecular Chemistry
  • Molecular Machines
  • Self-Assembly
  • Host-Guest Interactions
  • Coordination Chemistry
  • Cucurbiturils
  • Macrocycles
  • Dynamic Covalent Chemistry
  • Metal-Organic Frameworks
  • Nanomachines
Research works
21k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+1%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
46% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes

Which countries lead Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (1.4k and 301 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 1.4k works
  2. 2 United States 301 works
  3. 3 Japan 298 works
  4. 4 India 280 works
  5. 5 Germany 169 works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 150 works
  7. 7 France 146 works
  8. 8 Russia 114 works
  9. 9 Spain 104 works
  10. 10 Italy 97 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 45.9%United States: 9.8%Japan: 9.7%India: 9.1%6 others listed: 25.4%46%largest
China1,408 · 45.9%United States301 · 9.8%Japan298 · 9.7%India280 · 9.1%6 others listed780 · 25.4%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes research, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Russian Academy of Sciences.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 97 works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 84 works
  3. 3 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 59 works
  4. 4 Guizhou UniversityChina 45 works
  5. 5 Nankai UniversityChina 38 works
  6. 6 Jilin UniversityChina 32 works
  7. 7 East China Normal UniversityChina 32 works
  8. 8 Fudan UniversityChina 27 works
  9. 9 Sichuan UniversityChina 26 works
  10. 10 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 24 works

Who are the leading researchers in Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes include Michaël Grätzel, Róbert Langer and George M. Whitesides.

  1. 1 Michaël Grätzel Switzerland 458k citations
  2. 2 Róbert Langer United States 303k citations
  3. 3 George M. Whitesides United States 267k citations
  4. 4 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  5. 5 Ben Zhong Tang China 261k citations
  6. 6 Xiaogang Wang China 260k citations
  7. 7 Omar M. Yaghi United States 254k citations
  8. 8 Stefan Grimme Germany 224k citations
  9. 9 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  10. 10 George M. Sheldrick Germany 220k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes?

The most cited paper in Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes is "From Molecules to Crystal Engineering: Supramolecular Isomerism and Polymorphism in Network Solids" (Brian Moulton, Michael John Zaworotko, 2001), with 6,396 citations. Next come "Introduction and General Overview of Cyclodextrin Chemistry" (4,994) and "Supramolecular Chemistry—Scope and Perspectives Molecules, Supermolecules, and Molecular Devices (Nobel Lecture)" (3,831).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 From Molecules to Crystal Engineering: Supramolecular Isomerism and Polymorphism in Network Solids Brian Moulton, Michael John Zaworotko · Chemical Reviews Review 12 May 2001 6,396
2 Introduction and General Overview of Cyclodextrin Chemistry József Szejtli · Chemical Reviews Review 9 Jun 1998 4,994
3 Supramolecular Chemistry—Scope and Perspectives Molecules, Supermolecules, and Molecular Devices (Nobel Lecture) Jean‐Marie Lehn · Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English 1988 3,831
4 The atom, the molecule, and the covalent organic framework Christian S. Diercks, Omar M. Yaghi · Science 2 Mar 2017 3,507
5 Aggregation‐Induced Emission: The Whole Is More Brilliant than the Parts Ju Mei, Yuning Hong, Jacky W. Y. Lam et al. · Advanced Materials 30 Jun 2014 3,393
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes research done?

The largest centres of Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Tokyo (Japan) and Tianjin (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Kazan’ and Guiyang.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 190 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 149 works
  3. 3 TokyoJapan 94 works
  4. 4 TianjinChina 76 works
  5. 5 GuangzhouChina 61 works
  6. 6 HangzhouChina 61 works
  7. 7 NanjingChina 59 works
  8. 8 GuiyangChina 54 works
  9. 9 ParisFrance 53 works
  10. 10 Xi'anChina 44 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Kazan’RU · 34.7 works14×
  2. GuiyangCN · 53.6 works11×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes than the world average.

See Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes on the map

Where is the best place to study Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes?

Among universities, judged by research, East China Normal University, Nankai University and Jilin University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 21.99%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Nankai UniversityEast China Normal Un…Jilin UniversityUniversity of Gronin…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1East China Normal UniversityChina 82.726.0%20.6×32 +81.6%
2Nankai UniversityChina 73.526.7%17.4×38 -4.8%
3Jilin UniversityChina 68.722.4%8.7×32 -6.0%
4University of GroningenNetherlands 66.418.9%8.4×18 -3.0%
5University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 65.727.3%5.1×19 -31.5%
6Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 65.221.0%2.5×23 +45.2%
7TU Dortmund UniversityGermany 64.729.5%12.2×10 +42.5%
8Guizhou UniversityChina 60.48.6%27.1×45 +38.4%
9University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 60.316.4%4.7×24 +24.9%
10University of ManchesterUnited Kingdom 58.723.1%4.6×12 -18.8%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes, country by country

Is Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 1% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.012% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes0.015% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes9.8% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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