Chalcogen and pnictogen bonds: insights and relevance

Hydrogen bonding (HB) and halogen bonding (XB) interactions are now well established as important noncovalent forces across different research areas. Chalcogen bonding (ChB) and pnictogen bonding (PnB) interactions are increasingly gaining attention due to their potential applications and can be added to the arsenal of the already well-established HB and XB interactions. Given the tremendous progress made by the scientific community in the understanding of ChB and PnB interactions, we aim to provide an insight into the unique characteristics of these interactions through this perspective. We also aim to discuss some important applications of ChB and PnB interactions which will provide a better understanding of the relevance of these noncovalent interactions.