How Do Distance and Solvent Affect Halogen Bonding Involving Negatively Charged Donors?

It was reported that negatively charged donors can form halogen bonding, which is stable, especially, in a polar environment. On the basis of a survey of the Protein Data Bank, we noticed that the distance between the negative charge center and the halogen atom of an organohalogen may vary greatly. Therefore, a series of model systems, composed of 4-halophenyl-conjugated polyene acids and ammonia, were designed to explore the potential effect of distance on halogen bonding in different solvents. Quantum mechanics (QM) calculations demonstrated that the longer the distance, the stronger the bonding. The energy decomposition analysis on all of the model systems demonstrated that electrostatic interaction contributes the most (44-56%) to the overall binding, followed by orbital interaction (42-36%). Natural bond orbital calculations showed that electron transfer takes place from the acceptor to the donor, whereas the halogen atom becomes more positive during the bonding, which is in agreement with the result of neutral halogen bonding. QM/molecular mechanics calculations demonstrated that the polarity of binding pockets makes all of the interactions attractive in a protein system. Hence, the strength of halogen bonding involving negatively charged donors could be adjusted by changing the distance between the negative charge center and halogen atom and the environment in which the bonding exists, which may be applied in material and drug design for tuning their function and activity.