Anion–arene and lone pair–arene interactions are directional

Abstract

The anion– and lone pair–π supramolecular contacts are non-covalent interactions whose incidence is contested by part of the scientific community. A new statistical analysis of the structures deposited in the Cambridge Structural Database is presented herein that not only shows that anion–arene and lone pair–arene interactions do occur, but that they are moreover directional.