Molecular self-assembly-the spontaneous formation of molecules into covalently bonded, well-defined, stable structures-is a very important concept in biological systems and has increasingly become a focus of non-biological research. The top 25 papers include comparisons of the chemical and physical properties of self-assembled monolayers; reviews of the different types of self-assembly; the behavior of self-assembled monolayers on various surfaces, particularly gold electrodes and nanocrystals; and the role of self-assembly in various biologically important molecules, such as dendrimers, dynamin, and laminins. Potential applications involving molecular self-assembly include hinged coordination networks and a switchable molecular shuttle.

Methodology

The baseline time span for this database is 1991 - 2001. The resulting database contained 5,462 papers; 11,343 authors; 71 countries; 634 journals; and 1,628 institutions. 

Rankings

Once the database was in place, it was used to generate the lists of top 25 papers, authors, journals, institutions, and nations, covering a time span of 1991-October 2001.

The top 25 papers are ranked according to total cites. Rankings for author, journal, institution, and country are listed in three ways: according to total cites, total papers, and total cites/paper.

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