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. 2011 Nov 17;51(12):3180–3198. doi: 10.1021/ci200319e

Table 1. Summary of Favorable Interaction Types, Interaction Partners, and Geometry Definitionsa.

interaction type interacting atom types cutoff distance, dcut [Å] angle definitions
hydrogen bond hdon | hacc 0.2 sp: 135.0 ≤ (hdon···hacc–X) ≤ 180.0b
      sp2: 80.0 ≤ (hdon···hacc–X) ≤ 180.0b and
      30.0 ≤ (Inline graphic) ≤ 90.0b
      sp3: 70.0 ≤ (hdon···hacc–X) ≤ 180.0b
metal met | hacc 0.2 see hydrogen bond, with hdon replaced by met
ionic cat | ani 1.0  
cation–dipole cat | dneg 0.7 120.0 ≤ (cat···dneg–X) ≤ 180.0
cation-π cat | π 0.5 0.0 ≤ (Inline graphic) ≤ 45.0
dipolar dpos | dneg 0.4 60.0 ≤ (dneg1···dpos2–dneg2) ≤ 120.0 or
      150.0 ≤ (dneg1···dpos2–dneg2) ≤ 180.0b
halogen bond σpos | σneg 0.2 120.0 ≤ (σneg···σpos–X) ≤ 180.0
      80.0 ≤ (σpos···σneg–X) ≤ 180.0
hydrogen bond donor−π hdon | π 0.2 0.0 ≤ (Inline graphic) ≤ 45.0
      see also hydrogen bond, with hacc replaced by πcen
π–π π | π 0.5 (Inline graphic) ∈ [0.0–35.0; 55.0–125.0; 145.0–180.0]
      parallel: distance (π1···π2cen) ≥ 2.0 Å and distance (π2···π1cen) ≥ 2.0 Å
      orthogonal: distance (π1···π2cen) ≥ 2.0 Å or distance (π2···π1cen) ≥ 2.0 Å
vdW hyd | hyd 0.5  
a

An interaction between two atoms A and B is counted as favorable if (a) their distance is below rvdW,A + rvdW,B + dcut, where rvdW are the van der Waals radii according to Bondi(34) and dcut is an interaction type-specific distance cutoff, and (b) all involved angular thresholds are fulfilled. X denotes a covalently attached non-hydrogen atom and n⃗ stands for the normal vector of the plane. For hydrogen bonds and metal interactions, angle definitions are dependent on the hybridization states of donor and acceptor, respectively.

b

Analogous terms with exchanged atom types are additionally used.