Séminaire IPCM | Dr Hab le-Rang Jeon "Activating sigma-hole interactions: for crystal engineering and tailored properties"

The ability to understand and to control noncovalent interactions is important in materials science, spanning solution applications (organo-catalysis and anion recognition/transport) to solid-state properties (topochemical reactions and molecular conductors). Among those available in the toolbox of crystal engineering, chalcogen bonding (ChB) has recently entered the growing family of sigma-hole interactions, following the strong developments based on the halogen bonding (XB) interaction over the last 30 years. Nevertheless, harnessing chalcogen bonding (ChB) for crystal engineering remains challenging mainly due to the poor predictability of ChB associated with the presence of two sigma-holes. In this talk, I will discuss different strategies developed in our group that extend from fundamental studies focused on addressing strong directionality in ChB to a demonstration of its application in the design of functional materials with tailored properties.