Themed collection Halogen bonding in organic synthesis and catalysis

This review highlights the recent development of halogen bond-induced activations of N-halosuccinimides and N,N-dihalodimethylhydantoins in electrophilic aromatic halogenations.

The properties of three imidazolium based ionic liquids have been compared and used as solvents for the electrochemical oxidation of various anions.

A chiral organic base catalyst with halogen bond donor functionality was used to promote the asymmetric double Mannich reaction to afford 1,3-diamines in excellent yields with high enantio- and diastereoselectivities.

ortho-Nitro-substituted N-trifluoroacetyl imino-λ³-iodane is a bench-stable trifluoroacetyl nitrene precursor, in which intra- and intermolecular halogen bonding (XB) plays an important role.

A Mukaiyama aldol reaction can be catalyzed by bidentate halogen bond donors with very high efficiency. The halogenated catalysts were stable over multiple consecutive runs, which supports the halogen-bond-based mode of catalysis.

The enantioselectivity of the iodine(I) transfer process from chiral bis(pyridine)iodine(I) complexes to alkenes is explored.

Through DFT calculations, thiourea-like halogen bond (XB)-based catalysts, with XB donor moieties connected via covalent bonds, have been designed and applied to Diels–Alder reaction and sulfa-Michael addition.

In this study, the PDB has been inspected for the analysis of HaBs in biological systems, highlighting their importance in four different protein–ligand systems.

The roles played by halogen bonds and hydrogen bonds in the crystal structures of N-(pyridin-2-yl)amides were evaluated and rationalised in the context of calculated molecular electrostatic potentials.