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Updated: Mar 3, 2026

From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding
Published on: March 24, 2018
Direct Experimental Evidence for Halogen-Aryl π Interactions in Solution from Molecular Torsion Balances
Han Sun1, André Horatscheck1,2, Vera Martos1
1Departments of Chemical Biology and Structural Biology, Leibniz-Institut fϋr Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Campus Berlin-Buch, Robert-Roessle-Strasse 10, 13125, Berlin, Germany.
Abstract:
We dissected halogen-aryl π interactions experimentally using a bicyclic N-arylimide based molecular torsion balances system, which is based on the influence of the non-bonded interaction on the equilibria between folded and unfolded states. Through comparison of balances modulated by higher halogens with fluorine balances, we determined the magnitude of the halogen-aryl π interactions in our unimolecular systems to be larger than -5.0 kJ mol-1 , which is comparable with the magnitude estimated in the biomolecular systems. Our study provides direct experimental evidence of halogen-aryl π interactions in solution, which until now have only been revealed in the solid state and evaluated theoretically by quantum-mechanical calculations.
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