Chalcogen bonding in materials chemistry

• Chalcogen bonding influences the structure and properties of functional materials. • Examples include charge transfer salts, neutral heterocyclic free radicals, and paramagnetic coordination compounds. • Examples of influenced optical properties include visible light absorption and nonlinear optical response. This review examines recent literature in search for evidence of the influence that chalcogen bonding has on the structure and properties of functional materials. Key examples from research on charge transfer salts, neutral heterocyclic free radicals, and paramagnetic coordination compounds are highlighted as intermolecular interactions are critical to properties such as conductivity and magnetic response. Other cases reviewed include the influence of chalcogen bonding on optical properties such as the electronic absorption spectra and the nonlinear optical response of non-centrosymmetric crystal structures. There is also evidence that this type of interaction between molecules translates into macroscopic mechanical properties such as the bulk modulus.