Combining metals with halogen bonds

Halogen bonds in the solid state have been investigated for many years, with a major resurgence in activity occurring in the past decade. The emphasis of most studies has been on organic components. This Highlight focusses on inorganic components, or at least metal-containing components, and explores their propensity to form halogen bonds. The use of C-X center dot center dot center dot X'-M halogen bonds in forming networks is briefly reviewed and their utility in investigating the nature of halogen bonds is explored since their strength can be tuned by changing either the organic (donor) halogen (C-X) or the inorganic (acceptor) halogen (M-X'). A survey has been performed of crystal structures in which interactions are of suitable geometry to be considered as halogen bonds. In particular the role of simple monatomic (e.g. oxo, nitrido) and diatomic (e.g. carbonyl, cyanide) ligands as halogen bond acceptors in transition metal complexes is examined. Main group metals are also considered in a further section that considers D-X center dot center dot center dot A-M halogen bonds, where D = halogen bond donor, A = halogen bond acceptor and M main group metal or metalloid. Many examples presented herein were not identified as halogen bonds in the original articles. The aim of this survey is to examine the breadth of elements that can be involved in halogen bonding involving at least one inorganic (metal-containing) component and consider this range of interactions as a basis for future research in halogen bonding with applications in crystal engineering and allied areas.