Anion recognition based on halogen, chalcogen, pnictogen and tetrel bonding

Compounds incorporating Group 14–17 elements as electron-deficient sites are capable of attractive, directional interactions with Lewis bases. These noncovalent interactions are known as tetrel, pnictogen, chalcogen and halogen bonding, respectively. When the Lewis base is a negatively charged species, such interactions can be employed as the basis for the development of anion receptors, which are of interest from a fundamental standpoint and in applications ranging from chemical sensing to catalysis and medicinal chemistry. Halogen bonding and related interactions offer intriguing features in this context, including distinctive patterns of anion selectivity and solvent effects, along with unique opportunities for structural variation and synthetic access. This review article summarizes advances in anion recognition using halogen, chalcogen, pnictogen and tetrel bonding, with a focus on examples for which solution-phase thermodynamic data have been obtained.