I am writing my thesis, and usually I'm quite good with picking the right words for specific phenomena, yet I am having trouble finding the right words for this specific circumstance. I am trying to differentiate between halogen•••halogen contacts of the form R–X•••X'–R' where X and X' are the same element versus where X and X' are different elements. X in this case is a halogen, so a word for different halogens is okay too (I'd still like to know the general word, assuming there is one). I know that "congener" means two elements of the same group, but I'm unsure if that implies they are distinct elements. If it doesn't, I imagine the answer is "homo____" and "hetero____" but what could that ______ be?
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1$\begingroup$ Could you just write a sentence and what you don't like in there? $\endgroup$– MithoronCommented Jun 10, 2023 at 19:00
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$\begingroup$ You may be able to use "homonuclear" and "heteronuclear" depending on the exact wording $\endgroup$– AndrewCommented Jun 10, 2023 at 19:06
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$\begingroup$ "X•••X contacts may be represented with the general structure R–X•••X'–R, where X and X' are either [same element word] or [different element word]." I want to concisely emphasize that X and X' might be different elements, but they might not be either. To go from the @Andrew example, "X•••X contacts can be represented with the general structure R–X•••X'–R, where X and X' may either be homonuclear or heteronuclear." I like those, but I don't want to accidentally imply covalence between them or imply anything about the R group. $\endgroup$– thelocalsageCommented Jun 10, 2023 at 19:21
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$\begingroup$ Could you please send us an example of a phenomena where the "interaction X-X and/or X-X' " occurs, and where you are reluctant to imply covalence, or to imply anything about the R group ? We might better understand your question. $\endgroup$– MauriceCommented Jun 10, 2023 at 19:35
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$\begingroup$ These bonds are explicitly non-covalent (well, they are intermolecular—it is possible they adopt slight covalent character occasionally, but they are mostly non-covalent). I don't want to imply that the R group has to be any particular group, because while it is often an organic molecule, it can be another halogen, a metal, all sorts of things. These interactions come up in crystal formation/engineering a bunch and can be used in things like OLEDs. $\endgroup$– thelocalsageCommented Jun 10, 2023 at 19:46
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2 Answers
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| Contact | Name | Alternatively |
|---|---|---|
| $\ce{RX$\cdots$XR'}$ | homonuclear contact | homohalide contact |
| $\ce{RX$\cdots$X'R'}$ | heteronuclear contact | heterohalide contact |
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3$\begingroup$ +1 Interesting to see this terminology...homohalide occurs only 22 times in Google Scholar (out of millions of articles and mainly non-English speaking authors) which means that this is not a popular term. $\endgroup$– ACRCommented Jun 11, 2023 at 1:11
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"X•••X contacts may be represented with the general structure R–X•••X'–R, where X and X' are either [same element word] or [different element word]." I want to concisely emphasize that X and X' might be different elements, but they might not be either.
In scientific writing, we don't need to worry about Pulitzer Prize winning prose. The main question is whether others can understand your idea unambiguously. Your sentence is as clear as it can be. You can perhaps modify to
"The halogen atom to halogen atom contacts may be represented with the general structure R–X•••X'–R, where X and X' can be the same or different halogens."
Congener will be too broad here and perhaps incorrect too.
