One-dimensional (1D) nanostructures are of both fundamental and technological interest. They not only exhibit interesting electronic and optical properties intrinsically associated with their low dimensionality and the quantum confinement effect, but also represent the critical components in the potential nanoscale device applications. With the ever-decreasing sizes of these 1D nanostructures, the "bottom-up" chemical approach is playing increasing role due to its capability of making much smaller features as compared to the "top-down" approach. Major challenge, however, remains in order to fully exploit the 1D nanostructures, namely, the development of suitable chemical strategies for the rational synthesis, organization and integration of these nanoscale building blocks.