Halogen bonding in solution.

Halogen bonding is the electron density donation based weak interaction of halogens with Lewis bases. Its applicability for molecular recognition processes long remained unappreciated and has so far mostly been studied in silico and in solid state. As most physiological processes and chemical reactions take place in solution, investigations in solutions are of highest relevance for its use in the pharmaceutical and material scientific toolboxes. Following a short discussion of the phenomenon of halogen bonding, this tutorial review presents an overview of the methods hitherto applied for gaining an improved understanding of its behaviour in solutions and summarizes the gained knowledge in order to indicate the scope of the techniques and to facilitate exciting future developments. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012