Bonds and Intermolecular Interactions – The Return of Cohesion to Chemistry

Abstract

This chapter is a very brief historical tale of the evolution of the concept of “cohesion” in chemistry. This is done by overviewing the emergence of the bond concept that glues atoms into molecules, and of the intermolecular interactions that assemble molecules into larger aggregates of matter. By reviewing some novel bonding motifs and new aspects of intermolecular interactions, the chapter shows that the field of cohesion in chemistry is vibrant, exciting, and is teeming with problems awaiting solution. The imaging of bonds, bond breaking and remaking, and putatively of hydrogen bonds and maybe also of halogen bonds, in the future, mark the excitement of the community to probe these abstract concepts by experimental means. It is bonding time in chemistry!