Themed collection Celebration of the 70th birthday of Prof. Giuseppe Resnati

Celebrating the remarkable mission of Professor Giuseppe Resnati in science.

The chalcogen atom Ch (O, S, Se or Te) replacement at element–Ch⋯nucleophile has a significant impact on the strength and directionality of chalcogen bonding.

Electrostatic potentials on the 0.001 a.u. molecular surfaces of ethane and perfluoroethane. Red is the most positive potential; blue is negative. Note the weakly positive potentials associated with the σ-holes of the fluorine(s) in (b).

The metal–metal-to-ligand charge transfer transition in a platinum dinuclear complex is red-shifted by electrostatic one-dimensional extension through association with another anionic complex.

10 salts of selected mono- and dihalopyridines with benzenesulfonic and p-toluenesulfonic acids have been synthesised and structurally characterised in order to study halopyridinium cations as bifunctional donors.

The independent gradient model, applied to the dynamics of carbene ligand insertion into a C–Mn bond, reveals details of electron density redistribution events, challenging earlier assumptions.

A new case of the extremely rare fluorine tunnelling was theoretically found.

A novel 1,2-bis(dicyanomethylene)-cyclopropanide-substituted anionic chalcogen bond donor displays “anti-electrostatic” interactions in the solid state.

An efficient artificial light-harvesting system, ESY@BCDs, constructed based on the FRET between ESY and BCDs, serves as a platform for cell imaging.

Non-fluorinated and fluorinated alcohols are systematically investigated to elucidate the effects of the fluorination degree in alcohols on the interaction with F⁻. The electrostatic term plays the most significant role among the attractive terms.

Reactions with Cl, Br, and I yield products formed by one or more of three processes: halogenation of the chalcogen, protonation, and halogenation of the heterocycle.

The fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine bonds as sub-classes of the halogen bond are analysed and compared with the hydrogen bond using various descriptive statistics and statistical tests.

Crystallization of 1,4-diiodo-tetrafluorobenzene with trimethylbenzyl ammonium halides (NMe₃BzX, X = Cl, Br, I) shows anion and solvent dependence: NMe₃BzI favors solvated 1 : 1 cocrystals, while NMe₃BzBr and NMe₃BzCl favor unsolvated 1 : 1 networks.

Two families of Ni(II) salen complexes, with halogen bonding and crown ether binding moieties, are reported as neutral receptor molecules capable of binding catalytically relevant anion and ion-pair species in proximity to the Ni(II) centre.

We here report the synthesis of 2D perovskites based on highly fluorinated organic cations (LF8 and SMS28) that impart high hydrophobicity and thermal stability to the resulting materials.

The hydrogen-bonding ability of XeF₂ is an important factor influencing its chemical properties and reactivity, yet structurally characterised examples of hydrogen-bonded xenon fluorides remain rare.

Halide anions are very good halogen bond acceptors, often coordinating more than one halogen bond donor. Interactions in such halogen-bonded adducts with halides as multidentate acceptors demonstrate anticooperative effect.

New supramolecular networks were assembled from triaryltelluronium salts and ditopic nitrile ligands, utilizing chalcogen bonding, hydrogen bonding, and lone pair–π interactions.

The sigma hole concept and molecular orbital ideas allow us to rationalize and anticipate dominant bonding patterns in group 5 oxyhalide solids. Structural patterns observed in the crystal structures are inherited from some of the smallest oligomers.

A supramolecular dual-synthon formed by cooperation between OH⋯N hydrogen bonds and cation–π interactions was observed. Due to large positional disorder, 2-naphthol behaves like 2,6-dihydroxynaphthalene.

Based on theoretical calculations, we introduce a new Ag^IIAg^IIIF₅ monoclinic polymorph with a rare high-spin Ag^III. It owes its stability to strong quasi-two dimensional antiferromagnetic interactions.

We report a concise and practical one-pot synthesis of 3-fluoroquinolines via a decarboxylative Mannich-type reaction of α,α-difluoro-β-ketoesters with N-aryl imines in the presence of Yb(OTf)₃.

In this study, 10H-pyrido[1,2-a]-5-indolium salts were synthesized and their photophysical properties investigated. Variation in the counteranion modulates the anion–π⁺ interactions and packing, thereby modulating the optical properties.

Discrete silver(I) coordination complexes with pyridyl derivatives were investigated to determine the prominent non-covalent interactions (NCIs) that stabilize the complexes.

A new dataset of CCSD(T) interaction energies in 214 halogen-bonded molecular trimers with energy decomposition insights into cooperative bonding.

We present a high-resolution ¹⁹F NMR platform for the enantiodifferentiation of chiral hydroxy acids via a rapid three-component derivatization reaction between a ¹⁹F-labeled chiral amine, 2-formylphenylboronic acid, and the hydroxy acid analyte.

Alkaline earth (Ae) and potassium N,N′-bis(2-trifluoromethylphenyl)formamidinate complexes have been prepared by redox transmetallation/protolysis and deprotonation reactions. Structures of complexes of the larger metals Sr, Ba, K exhibit –CF–Ae(K).

A systematic examination of the structural interplay between hydrogen- and halogen bonds in 2-aminipyrimidine derivatives.

Two series of mono- or dinuclear gold(I) complexes containing an ethynyltriphenylene chromophore and various mono- and diphosphanes have been synthesized and characterized to explore the interplay between the ligand structure, aurophilic interactions, and photophysical properties.

Trialkylsilyl substituents tune aryl–perfluoroaryl interactions, controlling crystal packing and solid-state photophysical properties.

Mass-selective IR spectroscopy of the OH···O hydrogen-bonded dimers revealed that many atomic charge models fail to accurately predict the partial atomic charge of oxygen of the H-bond acceptors, highlighting a need for better theoretical frameworks.

Efficient room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) often depends on specific intermolecular interactions, such as C–H⋯F and halogen bonding interactions; however, their role in fluorinated diphenylacetylene derivatives remains unclear.

A pseudo-hydrogen bonding of the type C–F⋯H–C is observed in fluorinated azo Schiff bases under the influence of benzene solvent. This interaction was supported by NMR spectroscopy, which exhibited characteristic J_H,F couplings of 2.0–2.4 Hz.

The nucleophilicity of atom C (slope of straight line) increases with the row of the attached Group 16 atom in the order: Row 4 > Row 3 ∼ Row 2 ≫ Row 1. This is a general conclusion for nucleophilicities of several simple molecules.

High pressure X-ray diffraction revealed a phase transition in DBTQ-I₃ triiodide above 2 GPa. Calculated electron density features changed significantly in the region of cavities. At 2 GPa the direction of major compressibility alters drastically.

Halogen bond appears as if it is primarily of charge-transfer nature from infrared intensity modulations of some vibrational modes but not from the angular dependence of the intermolecular interaction energy that contributes to directionality.

Crystal structures of arsenic(III) oxide intercalates with ammonium halides have been determined under high pressure. The effect of pressure on arsenic⋯halogen secondary bonds has been found to be the same as for arsenic⋯oxygen interactions.

The basicity and the hydrogen bond (HB) acceptor capability of diborane derivatives of dipyrazole 1 with a B–B bond have been studied theoretically using M06-2x and CCSD(T) methods. The proton affinities of 1b reach 1096 kJ mol⁻¹.

We report a combined crystallographic/computational study on a series of ammonium salts of fumaric and maleic acids. It has provided deeper insight into energetic and directional nature of the anion⋯anion contacts present in their molecular packing.

The (im)miscibility of neutral, long-chain imidazoles bearing hydrocarbon or semiperfluorocarbon chains provides insight into the mixing behaviour of related and charged, methylimidazolium bistriflimide salts.

S/Se differentiation through chalcogen bonding interactions is achieved in oxidized tetrathiafulvalenes with MeS- and MeSe-substituents.

Methyl carbons in BeMe₂ and MgMe₂ act as unconventional Lewis bases in chalcogen bonding with chalcogenadiazoles and benzochalcodiazoles, with interaction energies from −1.5 to −6.6 kcal mol⁻¹; MgMe₂ forms stronger bonds than BeMe₂.

Two novel Au(III)–cytosine complexes were synthesized and structurally characterized. Solid-state analysis and DFT calculations reveal the key role of π-hole regium bonds and anion–π interactions in directing supramolecular assembly.

Quantum calculations show that replacement of the H-bonds within DNA base pairs by halogen bonds can enhance their binding to one another.