Halogen bonds in biological molecules

Short oxygen-halogen interactions have been known in organic chemistry since the 1950s and recently have been exploited in the design of supramolecular assemblies. The present survey of protein and nucleic acid structures reveals similar halogen bonds as potentially stabilizing inter- and intramolecular interactions that can affect ligand binding and molecular folding. A halogen bond in biomolecules can be defined as a short C-X...O-Y interaction (C-X is a carbon-bonded chlorine, bromine, or iodine, and O-Y is a carbonyl, hydroxyl, charged carboxylate, or phosphate group), where the X...O distance is less than or equal to the sums of the respective van der Waals radii (3.27 A for Cl...O, 3.37 A for Br...O, and…