Hydrogen bonding is responsible for the structure of much of the world around us. The unusual and complex properties of bulk water, the ability of proteins to fold into stable three-dimensional structures, the fidelity of DNA base pairing, and the binding of ligands to receptors are among the manifestations of this ubiquitous noncovalent interaction. In addition to its primacy as a structural determinant, hydrogen bonding plays a crucial functional role in catalysis. Hydrogen bonding to an electrophile serves to decrease the electron density of this species, activating it toward nucleophilic attack. This principle is employed frequently by Nature's catalysts, enzymes, for the acceleration of a wide range of chemical processes. Recently, organic chemists have begun to appreciate the tremendous potential offered by hydrogen bonding as a mechanism for electrophile activation in small-molecule, synthetic catalyst systems. In particular, chiral hydrogen-bond donors have emerged as a broadly applicable class of catalysts for enantioselective synthesis. This review documents these advances, emphasizing the structural and mechanistic features that contribute to high enantioselectivity in hydrogen-bond-mediated catalytic processes.

Halogen bonds are noncovalent interactions in which covalently bound halogens act as electrophilic species. The utility of halogen bonding for controlling self-assembly in the solid state is evident from a broad spectrum of applications in crystal engineering and materials science. Until recently, it has been less clear whether, and to what extent, halogen bonding could be employed to influence conformation, binding or reactivity in the solution phase. This tutorial review summarizes and interprets solution-phase thermodynamic data for halogen bonding interactions obtained over the past six decades and highlights emerging applications in molecular recognition, medicinal chemistry and catalysis.

A detailed study of the thermodynamics of the halogen-bonding interaction in organic solution is presented. (19)F NMR titrations are used to determine association constants for the interactions of a variety of Lewis bases with fluorinated iodoalkanes and iodoarenes. Linear free energy relationships for the halogen bond donor ability of substituted iodoperfluoroarenes XC(6)F(4)I are described, demonstrating that both substituent constants (sigma) and calculated molecular electrostatic potential surfaces are useful for constructing such relationships. An electrostatic model is, however, limited in its ability to provide correlation with a more comprehensive data set in which both halogen bond donor and acceptor abilities are varied: the ability of computationally derived binding energies to accurately model such data is elucidated. Solvent effects also reveal limitations of a purely electrostatic depiction of halogen bonding and point to important differences between halogen bonding and hydrogen bonding.

Chalcogen bonding is the noncovalent interaction between an electron-deficient, covalently bonded chalcogen (Te, Se, S) and a Lewis base. Although substantial evidence supports the existence of chalcogen bonding in the solid state, quantitative data regarding the strengths of the interactions in the solution phase are lacking. Herein, determinations of the association constants of benzotelluradiazoles with a variety of Lewis bases (Cl(-), Br(-), I(-), NO3(-) and quinuclidine, in organic solvent) are described. The participation of the benzotelluradiazoles in chalcogen bonding interactions was probed by UV-vis, (1)H and (19)F NMR spectroscopy as well as nano-ESI mass spectrometry. Trends in the free energy of chalcogen bonds upon variation of the donor, acceptor and solvent are evident from these data, including a linear free energy relationship between chalcogen bond donor ability and calculated electrostatic potential at the tellurium center. Calculations using the dispersion-corrected B97-D3 functional were found to give good agreement with the experimental free energies of chalcogen bonding.

Studies of a series of urea-based anion receptors designed to probe the potential for anion recognition through combinations of hydrogen and halogen bonding are presented. Proton- and fluorine-NMR spectroscopy indicates that the two interactions act in concert to achieve binding of certain anions, a conclusion supported by computational studies. Replacement of the halogen-bond donating iodine substituent by fluorine (which does not participate in halogen bonding) enables estimation of the contribution of this interaction to the free energy of anion binding. Evidence for attractive contacts between anions and electron-deficient arenes arising from the use of perfluoroarene-functionalized ureas as control receptors is also discussed. The magnitude of the free energy contribution of halogen bonding depends both on the geometric features of the group linking the hydrogen- and halogen-bond donor groups and on the identity of the bound anion. The results are interpreted in relation to fundamental features of the halogen-bonding interaction, including its directionality and unusual preference for halides over oxoanions. Cooperation between two distinct noncovalent interactions leads to unusual effects on receptor selectivity, a result of fundamental differences in the interactions of halogen- and hydrogen-bond donor groups with anions.