Illustrated Glossary of Organic Chemistry
Aromatic
-
aromatic
interaction (
aromatic
stacking,
pi
stacking):
A
noncovalent attractive force
between two
aromatic
rings. Alignment of positive
electrostatic potential
on one ring with negative
electrostatic potential
on another ring forms an offset stack, or in pure
benzene
, a T-shaped stack. Also called '
pi
stacking' but this label is misleading because it implies that stacking might occur in any structure with
pi electrons
.
Offset stacking
T-stacking
Stacked
base pairs
cause
aromatic
-
aromatic
interactions in
DNA
.
Related terms:
Ion-dipole interaction
,
anion-cation interaction
,
hydrogen bond
,
dipole-dipole interaction
,
dipole moment
,
dielectric constant
,
boiling point
,
melting point
,
solubility
,
solvation
,
molecular recognition
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