Induced-Polarization Energy Map: A Helpful Tool for Predicting Geometric Features of Anion-π Complexes

Intermolecular interaction potential maps from energy decomposition for interpreting reactivity and intermolecular interactions

The electrostatic potential (ESP) has been widely used to visualize electrostatic interactions about a molecule. However, electrostatic effects are often insufficient for capturing the entirety of an interaction or a reaction of interest. In this investigation, intermolecular interaction potential maps (IMIPs), constructed from the potentials derived from energy decomposition analysis (EDA) using density functional theory, were developed and applied to provide unique insight into molecular interactions and reactivity. To this end, rather than constructing a potential map from probe point charge interactions, IMIPs were constructed from probe interactions with small molecular fragments, including CH3+, CH3-, benzene, and atomic probes including alkali metals, transition metals, and halides. The interaction potentials are further decomposed producing IMIPs for each interaction component using EDA (electrostatic, orbital, steric, etc.). The IMIPs are applied to the study of various interactions including cation-π and anion-π interactions, electrophilic and nucleophilic aromatic substitution, Lewis acid activation, π-stacking, endohedral fullerenes, and select organometallics which reveal fundamental insight into the positional preferences and physical origins of the interactions that otherwise would be difficult to uncover through other surface analyses.

Theoretical study of synergistic effects between anion–π and metal–Lp interactions

Interesting cooperativity effects are observed when the anion–π and coinage-metal–Lp interactions coexist in the same multicomponent.

Aromatic rings in chemical and biological recognition: energetics and structures

This review describes a multidimensional treatment of molecular recognition phenomena involving aromatic rings in chemical and biological systems. It summarizes new results reported since the appearance of an earlier review in 2003 in host-guest chemistry, biological affinity assays and biostructural analysis, data base mining in the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) and the Protein Data Bank (PDB), and advanced computational studies. Topics addressed are arene-arene, perfluoroarene-arene, S⋅⋅⋅aromatic, cation-π, and anion-π interactions, as well as hydrogen bonding to π systems. The generated knowledge benefits, in particular, structure-based hit-to-lead development and lead optimization both in the pharmaceutical and in the crop protection industry. It equally facilitates the development of new advanced materials and supramolecular systems, and should inspire further utilization of interactions with aromatic rings to control the stereochemical outcome of synthetic transformations.