Building Organic Frameworks using Halogen Bonds

The halogen bond is an analogue of the hydrogen bond in which the halogen atom is the acceptor of an electron pair exactly like the hydrogen atom. In our case, we study how the halogen bond can be used in growing organic crystals and forming organic frameworks. The strength of the halogen bond is dependent on the nature of the halide molecules.

The non-covalent interaction (NCI) plot of the halogen bonding (arrow).For more details, see: M. Boterashvili, T. Shirman, S. R. Cohen, G. Evmenenko, P. Dutta, P. Milko, G. Leitus, M. Lahav, M. E. van der Boom, Interfacial Halogen Bonding Probed Using Force Spectroscopy, Chem. Commun., 49, 2013, 3531 – 3533 (read online)