On planet Earth, water is everywhere: the majority of the surface is covered with it; it is a key component of all life; its vapour and droplets fill the lower atmosphere; and even rocks contain it and undergo geomorphological changes because of it. A community of physical scientists largely drives studies of the chemistry of water and aqueous solutions, with expertise in biochemistry, spectroscopy and computer modelling. More recently, however, supramolecular chemists — with their expertise in macrocyclic synthesis and measuring supramolecular interactions — have renewed their interest in water-mediated non-covalent interactions. These two groups offer complementary expertise that, if harnessed, offer to accelerate our understanding of aqueous supramolecular chemistry and water writ large. This Review summarizes the state-of-the-art of the two fields, and highlights where there is latent chemical space for collaborative exploration by the two groups.

在地球上，水无处不在：大部分表面都被水覆盖；它是所有生命的关键组成部分；它的蒸气和液滴充满了较低的大气层；甚至岩石都包含它，并因此而经历地貌变化。一群物理科学家在生物化学，光谱学和计算机建模方面拥有丰富的经验，在很大程度上推动了对水溶液和水溶液化学的研究。然而，最近，超分子化学家凭借在大环合成和测量超分子相互作用方面的专业知识，重新引起了人们对水介导的非共价相互作用的兴趣。这两类人可以提供互补的专业知识，如果可以利用这些专业知识，可以加快我们对水性超分子化学和水的理解。