Recent advances in anion–π interactions

Abstract

Over the past 10 years, anion–π interaction has been recognized as an important weak force that may occur between anionic systems and electron-deficient aromatics. Lately, this supramolecular contact has experienced a rapidly growing interest, as reflected by numerous recent literature reports. The present paper highlights the tremendous progress achieved in the field by emphasizing three important studies involving anion–π interactions published in 2010. In addition, a pioneering search of the Protein Data Bank (PDB) reveals short anion–π contacts in some protein structures.