Halogen Bonding: A Supramolecular Entry for Assembling Nanoparticles

摘要

Noncovalent interactions play an important role in the engineering of structurally well-defined assemblies. Important supramolecular forces, including hydrogen and halogen bonding, van der Waals interactions, and π-π stacking have been studied in much detail and used for the design of a vast number of synthons capable of forming task-specific structures having a high level of complexity. Halogen bonding (XB) is an interesting noncovalent interaction in which halogens behave as acceptors of electron density. Recent reports show the increasing significance of XB in liquid crystals, solid-state reactivity, nonporous solids, inorganic chemistry, materials science, and biology, to mention just a few. Remarkably, although XB is considered as a world parallel to hydrogen bonding and a useful tool to construct supramolecular complexes and networks, no studies to date have reported control of the formation and structure of large nanoparticle-based assemblies with this specific and directional interaction. XB interactions are kinetically labile but are considered to be relatively strong. Could, then, this intermolecular force be used to drive and engineer the formation of such assemblies?