Non-covalent interactions in the synthesis of coordination compounds: Recent advances

Abstract

This review describes how non-covalent interactions, such as hydrogen (inter- and intramolecular, resonance- and charge-assisted hydrogen bonding), halogen, chalcogen and pnicogen bonds, π-interactions, as well as other types of weak forces can influence and control the reactions in the synthesis, e.g., of metal-containing supramolecular networks, providing a class of highly directional stabilizing contacts that can be exploited in the design of coordination compounds. The selected recent examples show that both inter- and intramolecular non-covalent interactions can influence the formation of coordination compounds. This overview of non-covalent interactions applied for synthesis and design of coordination compounds also contributes to an improved understanding of their behavior in crystal engineering, catalysis, etc. It provides a practical consultation for synthetic chemists that are interested in exploring and further developing non-covalent interactions assisted synthesis and design of coordination compounds.