Taxonomy of Chemical Bondings: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

The recent focus on supramolecular and nanosized systems produced a major increase in the types of observed noncovalent interactions and in the diversity of terms used to designate them. A hierarchical categorization (taxonomy) of terms used to designate electrophile···nucleophile interactions is proposed here. Core elements of this classification are some recent IUPAC definitions referring to the electrophile.