Identification of an Overlooked Halogen-Bond Synthon and Its Application in Designing Fluorescent Materials

Research on new supramolecular synthons facilitates the progress of materials design. Herein, the ability of sp² carbonyl oxygen atoms to act as halogen-bond acceptors was established through cocrystallization. Four sets of carbonyl compounds, including aldehydes, ketones, esters, and amides, were selected as halogen-bond acceptors. In the absence of strong hydrogen bonds, 14 out of 16 combinations of halogen-bond donors and acceptors could form cocrystals, whereby the supramolecular synthon C=O⋅⋅⋅X acts as the main interaction. Further, the geometric parameters of the C=O⋅⋅⋅X interaction were statistically revealed on the basis of the crystallographic database. The bifurcated interaction mode that has been observed in other halogen-bond synthons rarely occurs in the case of C=O⋅⋅⋅X. The robustness of C=O⋅⋅⋅X makes its application in crystal engineering possible and opens up new opportunities in designing multicomponent fluorescent materials, as indicated by multicolor emission of cocrystals D through C=O⋅⋅⋅X interactions.