Synopses & Reviews
The aim of this book is to provide a general introduction into the science behind non-covalent interactions and molecular complexes using some important experimental and theoretical methods and approaches. It is the first monograph on this subject written in close collaboration between a theoretician and an experimentalist which presents a coherent description of non-covalent interactions viewed from these two perspectives. The book describes the experimental and theoretical techniques, and some results obtained by these, which are useful in conveying the principles underlying the observable or computable properties of molecular clusters. The chemical and physical background underlying non-covalent interactions are treated comprehensively and non-covalent interactions is contrasted to ionic, covalent and metallic bonding. The role of dispersion and electrostatic interactions, static and induced multipole moments, charge transfer and charge localisation and de-localisation are described. In addition, the nomenclature and classification of non-covalent interactions and molecular clusters is discussed since there is still no unique agreement on it. The authors were among first who coined the term non-covalent for intermolecular interactions and all interactions can thus be categorised as metallic, covalent and non-covalent. The book covers covalent bonding where the properties of a moiety in a molecular cluster are concerned, for instance its electrostatic multipole moments. The historic development of the field is also briefly outlined, starting from van der Waals who first recognized the fact that molecules in the gas phase interact, through London who explained the fact that non-polar uncharged systems attract each other, making a connection to modern work of theoreticians and experimentalists who have contributed to the present knowledge in the field. The role of non-covalent interactions in nature is discussed and the book also argues why non-covalent interactions and not covalent ones play a key role in biological systems. The authors show the unique significance of non-covalent interactions in biological systems and describe several important processes (molecular recognition, structure of biomacromolecules, etc) that are fundamentally determined by non-covalent interactions. The book is aimed at undergraduate and graduate students who need to learn more about non-covalent interactions and their role in chemistry, physics and biology. It also provides valuable information to non-specialist scientists and also those who work in the area who will find it interesting reading. As both experimental and theoretical procedures are covered, this enables the reader to orientate themselves in this very intensely growing area
Review
Hobza and Muller-Dethlefs present a good overview of many of the theoretical and experimental considerations important to the study of the entire spectrum of non-covalent interactions....we find this monograph to be a valuable resource that will be required reading for graduate students in our laboratories for years to come.
Synopsis
This book aims to understand the main aspects of non-covalent chemistry (mainly in the gas phase) and specifically compares the experimental and theoretical data available for non-covalent complexes and subsequent problems associated with this comparison. The book is authored by an experimentalist (KMD) and theorist (PH), and their main philosophy in writing together is that any book on non-covalent interactions cannot be limited either to theory or experiment. Both approaches are nowadays so closely connected that one cannot exist without the other and vice versa and their mutual connection provides the consistent description of non-covalent processes in our world. This book will be of great assistance to researchers engaged in both theoretical and experimental aspects of non-covalent bonding and in macro- and supermolecular chemistry.
Synopsis
Co-authored by an experimentalist (Klaus M³ller-Dethlefs ) and theoretician (Pavel Hobza), the aim of this book is to provide a general introduction into the science behind non-covalent interactions and molecular complexes using some important experimental and theoretical methods and approaches.
About the Author
Walter Thiel studied chemistry at the University of Marburg (West Germany) from 1966 to 1971, where he subsequently obtained his doctorate with A. Schweig in 1973. After a post-doctoral stint at the University of Texas at Austin with M. J. S. Dewar (1973-1975), he obtained his habilitation from the University of Marburg in 1981. He was appointed Professor of Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Wuppertal (West Germany) in 1983 and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Zurich (Switzerland) in 1992. In 1987 he was a visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley. Since 1999, he is a director at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research in Mülheim an der Ruhr (Germany) and an honorary professor at the neighbouring University of Düsseldorf (Germany) since 2001.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction; Chapter 2: Characteristics of Non-covalent Complexes and Their Determination by Experimental and Theoretical Techniques; Chapter 3: Potential Energy and Free Energy Surfaces; Chapter 4: Classification of Non-covalent Complexes; Chapter 5: Interpretation of Experimental Results and Types of Molecular Clusters; Chapter 6: Extended Molecular Clusters in Chemistry, the Atmosphere and Stereospecific Molecular Recognition; Subject Index