On atom-atom 'short contact' bonding interactions in crystals

IUCrJ. 2015 Feb 26;2(Pt 2):161-3. doi: 10.1107/S2052252515002067. eCollection 2015 Mar 1.

Abstract

Professor Dunitz questions the usefulness of ascribing crystalline structural stability to individual atom-atom intermolecular interactions viewed as bonding (hence stabilizing) whenever linked by a bond path. An alternative view is expressed in the present essay that articulates the validity and usefulness of the bond path concept in a crystallographic and crystal engineering context.

Keywords: bond paths in crystals; crystal binding; crystal stability; electron density; high-resolution X-ray diffraction; quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM); synthons.