Mendez_2017_Molecules_22_

Halogen bonding has emerged at the forefront of advances in improving ligand: receptor interactions. In particular the newfound ability of this extant non-covalent-bonding phenomena has revolutionized computational approaches to drug discovery while simultaneously reenergizing synthetic approaches to the field. Here we survey, via examples of classical applications involving halogen atoms in pharmaceutical compounds and their biological hosts, the unique advantages that halogen atoms offer as both Lewis acids and Lewis bases.