Etymology

cation-π

Today it means: A noncovalent interaction between a cation, a positive ion like Li⁺ or Na⁺, and an aromatic residue such as benzene, ethylene, acetylene. Full definition →

translingual π
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The story

  1. translingual · borrowed fromπ
  2. English todaycation-π

From cation + translingual π, where π is from π system. Aromatic residues are called π systems because they contain a lot of π links, links between p electrons.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.