A supramolecular polymer as a self-assembling polyvalent scaffold.

Binding bacteria: Discotic molecules self-assemble into columnar supramolecular polymers that show strong polyvalent binding to bacteria by virtue of mannose ligands attached at their periphery (orange; see picture). The reversible formation of the supramolecular polymers allows simple mixing of differently substituted monomers and the optimization of bacterial aggregation.