  We investigate the existence of an optimal interplay between the natural
frequencies of a group chaotic oscillators and the topological properties of
the network they are embedded in. We identify the conditions for achieving
phase synchronization in the most effective way, i.e., with the lowest possible
coupling strength. Specifically, we show by means of numerical and experimental
results that it is possible to define a synchrony alignment function linking
the natural frequencies of a set of non-identical phase-coherent chaotic
oscillators with the topology of the Laplacian matrix $L$, the latter
accounting for the specific organization of the network of interactions between
oscillators. We use the classical R\"ossler system to show that the synchrony
alignment function obtained for phase oscillators can be extended to
phase-coherent chaotic systems. Finally, we carry out a series of experiments
with nonlinear electronic circuits to show the robustness of the theoretical
predictions despite the intrinsic noise and parameter mismatch of the
electronic components.
