UCL CENTRE FOR MATERIALS RESEARCH

Research Summary

Our research interests lie in studies of non-covalent interactions. By non-covalent interactions we define the ability of certain fragments of molecules to attract to each other without a need to share electrons. Hydrogen bonds being the strongest amongst the non-covalent interactions have attracted the most of the attention, while relatively little is known about π-stackings, X-H... π or hydrophobic interactions. As expected, non-covalent interactions are significantly weaker than covalent bonds, but they occur in large numbers in biological structures hence providing the strength and flexibility needed for biological function. In fact, from a chemists point of view any life process can be described as a chemistry of non-covalent interactions.