Not Only Hydrogen Bonds: Other Noncovalent Interactions

© 2020 by the authors.In this review, we provide a consistent description of noncovalent interactions, covering most groups of the Periodic Table. Different types of bonds are discussed using their trivial names. Moreover, the new name “Spodium bonds” is proposed for group 12 since noncovalent interactions involving this group of elements as electron acceptors have not yet been named. Excluding hydrogen bonds, the following noncovalent interactions will be discussed: alkali, alkaline earth, regium, spodium, triel, tetrel, pnictogen, chalcogen, halogen, and aerogen, which almost covers the Periodic Table entirely. Other interactions, such as orthogonal interactions and π-π stacking, will also be considered. Research and applications of σ-hole and π-hole interactions involving the p-block element is growing exponentially. The important applications include supramolecular chemistry, crystal engineering, catalysis, enzymatic chemistry molecular machines, membrane ion transport, etc. Despite the fact that this review is not intended to be comprehensive, a number of representative works for each type of interaction is provided. The possibility of modeling the dissociation energies of the complexes using different models (HSAB, ECW, Alkorta-Legon) was analyzed. Finally, the extension of Cahn-Ingold-Prelog priority rules to noncovalent is proposed.This work was carried out with financial support from the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades of Spain (PGC2018-094644-B-C22) and Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (P2018/EMT-4329 AIRTEC-CM). Thanks are also given to the CTI (CSIC) for their continued computational support. AF thanks the MICIU/AEI (project CTQ2017-85821-R FEDER funds) for financial supportPeer reviewe