Substituent effects on cation-π interactions:: A quantitative study

A synthetic supramolecular complex has been adapted to quantify cation-pi, interactions in chloroform by using chemical double-mutant cycles. The interaction of a pyridinium cation with the pi-face of an aromatic ring is found to be very sensitive to the pi-electron density. Electron-donating substituents lead to a strong attractive interaction (-8 kJ/mol(-1)), but electron-withdrawing groups lead to a repulsive interaction (+2 kJ/mol(-1)).