"Triply Activated" Phenyl 3-lodopropiolates: Halogen-Bond Donors with Remarkable sigma-Hole Potentials

The ability of halogen-bond donors to form strong and directional intermolecular interactions remains integral to their prospects of becoming reliable synthetic tools for the bottom-up assembly of functional materials. An activation strategy involving three different electron-withdrawing groups in parallel, was employed in order to develop new halogen-bond donors possessing some of the highest sigma-hole potentials reported to date.