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Hydrogen Bonds

Hydrogen Bonds

A hydrogen bond is formed when a weakly positive hydrogen atom already bonded to one electronegative atom (for example, the oxygen in the water molecule) is attracted to another electronegative atom from another polar molecule, such as water (H2O), hydrogen fluoride (HF), or ammonia (NH3). The huge electronegativity difference between the H atom (2.1) and the atom to which it is bonded (4.0 for an F atom, 3.5 for an O atom, or 3.0 for an N atom), combined with the very small size of an H atom...

Hydrogen Bonds

Hydrogen Bonds

Hydrogen bonds are weak attractions between atoms that have formed other chemical bonds. One of these atoms is electronegative, like oxygen, and has a partial negative charge. The other is a hydrogen atom that has bonded with another electronegative atom and has a partial positive charge.
Hydrogen Bonds Control the World!
Because hydrogen has very weak electronegativity when it binds with a strongly electronegative atom, such as oxygen or nitrogen, electrons in the bond are unequally shared....

Formation of Halohydrin from Alkenes

Formation of Halohydrin from Alkenes

An alkene, such as propene, reacts with bromine in the presence of water to yield a halohydrin. Halohydrins contain a halogen and a hydroxyl group attached to adjacent carbons. When the halogen is bromine, it is called a bromohydrin, while a chlorohydrin has chlorine as the halogen.

Halogenation of Alkenes

Halogenation of Alkenes

Halogenation is the addition of chlorine or bromine across the double bond in an alkene to yield a vicinal dihalide. The reaction occurs in the presence of inert and non-nucleophilic solvents, such as methylene chloride, chloroform, or carbon tetrachloride.
Consider the bromination of cyclopentene. Molecular bromine is polarized in the proximity of the π electrons of cyclopentene. An electrophilic bromine atom adds across the double bond, forming a cyclic bromonium ion intermediate.

Alkyl Halides

Alkyl Halides

Structural Properties
Alkyl halides are halogen-substituted alkanes wherein one or more hydrogen atoms of an alkane is replaced by a halogen atom such as fluorine, chlorine, bromine, or iodine. The carbon atom in an alkyl halide is bonded to the halogen atom, which is sp3-hybridized and exhibits a tetrahedral shape.
Unlike alkyl halides, compounds in which a halogen atom is bonded to an sp2 -hybridized carbon atom of a carbon-carbon double bond (C=C) are called vinyl halides. Whereas aryl...

Noncovalent Attractions in Biomolecules

Noncovalent Attractions in Biomolecules

Noncovalent attractions are associations within and between molecules that influence the shape and structural stability of complexes. These interactions differ from covalent bonding in that they do not involve sharing of electrons.
Four types of noncovalent interactions are hydrogen bonds, van der Waals forces, ionic bonds, and hydrophobic interactions.
Hydrogen bonding results from the electrostatic attraction of a hydrogen atom covalently bonded to a strong-electronegative atom like oxygen,...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 21, 2026

From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding

From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding

Published on: March 24, 2018

Biomolecular halogen bonds.

¹Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1870, USA, shing.ho@colostate.edu.

Topics in Current Chemistry

|October 20, 2014

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Halogen bonds, though unusual in biology, are key stabilizing interactions in biomolecules. Understanding these biomolecular halogen bonds (BXBs) offers new avenues for designing effective inhibitors and materials.

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Area of Science:

Biochemistry
Chemical Biology
Structural Biology

Background:

Halogens are common substituents in biologically relevant molecules like thyroid hormones and inhibitors.
Halogen bonds, characterized by the σ-hole model, are short-range stabilizing interactions increasingly recognized in biological systems.
Biomolecular halogen bonds (BXBs) exhibit unique geometric and energetic properties compared to hydrogen bonds.

Purpose of the Study:

To review current research on biomolecular halogen bonds (BXBs).
To focus on experimental studies of BXBs' structure-energy relationships.
To explore the application of BXBs in rational drug design and biomaterial engineering.

Main Methods:

Review of experimental studies on halogen bond structure-energy relationships.
Analysis of computational methods for modeling BXBs.
Case studies on the application of BXBs in inhibitor design and molecular engineering.

Main Results:

Experimental data reveal detailed structure-energy relationships for BXBs.
These studies inform the development of accurate computational models for BXBs.
BXBs demonstrate potential as powerful tools for rational inhibitor design.

Conclusions:

Biomolecular halogen bonds are significant interactions in biological systems.
Understanding BXBs facilitates the development of advanced computational tools.
BXBs offer promising strategies for designing novel therapeutics and biomaterials.