Cyclodextrin-surfactant binding constant as driven force for uncomplexed cyclodextrin in equilibrium with micellar systems

Molecular Recognition by Pillar[5]arenes: Evidence for Simultaneous Electrostatic and Hydrophobic Interactions

The formation of inclusion complexes between alkylsulfonate guests and a cationic pillar[5]arene receptor in water was investigated by NMR and ITC techniques. The results show the formation of host-guest complexes stabilized by electrostatic interactions and hydrophobic effects with binding constants of up to 10⁷ M⁻¹ for the guest with higher hydrophobic character. Structurally, the alkyl chain of the guest is included in the hydrophobic aromatic cavity of the macrocycle while the sulfonate groups are held in the multicationic portal by ionic interactions.

γ-Cyclodextrin modulates the chemical reactivity by multiple complexation

Multiple recognition by cooperative/competitive mechanisms to form a 1 : 1 : 1 inclusion complex plays a crucial role in determining the chemical reactivity in the γ-CD cavity.

The formation of host-guest complexes between surfactants and cyclodextrins

Cyclodextrins are able to act as host molecules in supramolecular chemistry with applications ranging from pharmaceutics to detergency. Among guest molecules surfactants play an important role with both fundamental and practical applications. The formation of cyclodextrin/surfactant host-guest compounds leads to an increase in the critical micelle concentration and in the solubility of surfactants. The possibility of changing the balance between several intermolecular forces, and thus allowing the study of, e.g., dehydration and steric hindrance effects upon association, makes surfactants ideal guest molecules for fundamental studies. Therefore, these systems allow for obtaining a deep insight into the host-guest association mechanism. In this paper, we review the influence on the thermodynamic properties of CD-surfactant association by highlighting the effect of different surfactant architectures (single tail, double-tailed, gemini and bolaform), with special emphasis on cationic surfactants. This is complemented with an assessment of the most common analytical techniques used to follow the association process. The applied methods for computation of the association stoichiometry and stability constants are also reviewed and discussed; this is an important point since there are significant discrepancies and scattered data for similar systems in the literature. In general, the surfactant-cyclodextrin association is treated without reference to the kinetics of the process. However, there are several examples where the kinetics of the process can be investigated, in particular those where volumes of the CD cavity and surfactant (either the tail or in special cases the head group) are similar in magnitude. This will also be critically reviewed.

Tuning the viscoelasticity of nonionic wormlike micelles with β-cyclodextrin derivatives: a highly discriminative process

We report the influence of five β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) derivatives, namely: randomly methylated β-cyclodextrin (MBCD), heptakis (2,6-di-O-methyl)-β-cyclodextrin (DIMEB), heptakis (2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-β-cyclodextrin (TRIMEB), 2-hydroxyethyl-β-cyclodextrin (HEBCD) and 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPBCD), on the self-assembly of mixtures of nonionic surfactants: polyoxyethylene cholesteryl ether (ChEO10) and monocaprylin (MCL). Mixtures of ChEO10/MCL in water form highly viscoelastic wormlike micelle solutions (WLM) over a range of concentrations; herein, the composition was fixed at 10 wt % ChEO10/3 wt % MCL. The addition of methylated β-CDs (MBCD, DIMEB, TRIMEB) induced a substantial disruption of the solid-like viscoelastic behavior, as shown from a loss of the Maxwell behavior, a large reduction in G' and G″ in oscillatory frequency-sweep measurements, and a drop of the viscosity. The disruption increased with the degree of substitution, following: MBCD < DIMEB < TRIMEB. Cryo-TEM images confirmed a loss of the WLM networks, revealing short rods and disc-like aggregates, which were corroborated by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements. Critical aggregation concentrations (CAC), measured by fluorescence spectroscopy, increased in the presence of DIMEB for both ChEO10 and MCL, suggesting the existence of interactions between methylated β-CDs and both surfactants involved in WLM formation. Instead, hydroxyl-β-CDs had a very different effect on the WLM. HPBCD only slightly reduced the solid-like behavior, without suppressing it. Quite remarkably, the addition of HEBCD reinforced the solid-like characteristics and increased the viscosity 10-fold. Cryo-TEM images confirmed the subsistence of WLM in ChEO10/MCL/HEBCD solutions, while SANS data revealed a slight elongation and thickening of the worms, and an increase of associated water molecules. CAC data showed that HPBCD had little effect on either surfactant, while HEBCD strongly affected the CAC of MCL and only slightly affected the ChEO10. For both DIMEB and HEBCD, time-resolved SANS measurements showed that morphology changes underlying these macroscopic changes occur in less than 100 ms.

Impact of cyclodextrins on the behavior of amphiphilic ligands in aqueous organometallic catalysis

In this study, we showed that the addition of randomly modified β-cyclodextrin (RAME-β-CD) in aqueous medium could have a beneficial impact on the catalytic performances of phosphane-based aggregates in the Pd-catalyzed cleavage of allyl carbonates (Tsuji–Trost reaction). The RAME-β-CD/phosphane supramolecular interactions helped explain the catalytic results. The presence of RAME-β-CD in the aqueous compartment improved the phosphane-based aggregate dynamics. The exchanges between the hydrophobic substrate-containing aggregate core and the catalyst-containing aqueous phase were then greatly favored, resulting in an increase in the catalytic performances.

Condensation and decondensation of DNA by cationic surfactant, spermine, or cationic surfactant-cyclodextrin mixtures: macroscopic phase behavior, aggregate properties, and dissolution mechanisms

The macroscopic phase behavior and other physicochemical properties of dilute aqueous mixtures of DNA and the cationic surfactant hexadecyltrimethylammounium bromide (CTAB), DNA and the polyamine spermine, or DNA, CTAB, and (2-hydroxypropyl)-β-cyclodextrin (2HPβCD) were investigated. When DNA is mixed with CTAB we found, with increasing surfactant concentration, (1) free DNA coexisting with surfactant unimers, (2) free DNA coexisting with aggregates of condensed DNA and CTAB, (3) a miscibility gap where macroscopic phase separation is observed, and (4) positively overcharged aggregates of condensed DNA and CTAB. The presence of a clear solution beyond the miscibility gap cannot be ascribed to self-screening by the charges from the DNA and/or the surfactant; instead, hydrophobic interactions among the surfactants are instrumental for the observed behavior. It is difficult to judge whether the overcharged mixed aggregates represent an equilibrium situation or not. If the excess surfactant was not initially present, but added to a preformed precipitate, redissolution was, in consistency with previous reports, not observed; thus, kinetic effects have major influence on the behavior. Mixtures of DNA and spermine also displayed a miscibility gap; however, positively overcharged aggregates were not identified, and redissolution with excess spermine can be explained by electrostatics. When 2HPβCD was added to a DNA-CTAB precipitate, redissolution was observed, and when it was added to the overcharged aggregates, the behavior was essentially a reversal of that of the DNA-CTAB system. This is attributed to an effectively quantitative formation of 1:1 2HPβCD-surfactant inclusion complexes, which results in a gradual decrease in the concentration of effectively available surfactant with increasing 2HPβCD concentration.

Cyclodextrin-surfactant coassembly depends on the cyclodextrin ability to crystallize

Full equilibrium phase diagrams are presented for two ternary systems composed of the cationic surfactant dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), water (D(2)O), and a cyclodextrin, either β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) or (2-hydroypropyl)-β-cyclodextrin (2HPβCD). (2)H NMR, SAXS, WAXS, and visual examination were used to determine the phase boundaries and characterize the nature of the phases formed. Additionally, diffusion (1)H NMR was used to investigate parts of the diagrams. The water solubility of 2HPβCD is 80% (w/w), whereas it is only 1.85% (w/w) for β-CD. Solubility increases for both species upon complexation with DTAB; while the increase is minute for 2HPβCD, it is dramatic for β-CD. Both systems displayed an isotropic liquid solution (L(1)) one-phase region, the extension of which differs extensively between the two systems. Additionally, the DTAB:2HPβCD:water system also comprised a normal hexagonal (H(1)) area, which was not found for the DTAB:β-CD:water system. In the DTAB:β-CD:water system, on the other hand, we found cocrystallization of DTAB and β-CD. From this work we conclude that DTAB and CD molecules form 1:1 inclusion complexes with high affinities. Moreover, we observed indications of an association of 2HPβCD to DTAB micelles in the isotropic solution phase, which was not the case for β-CD and DTAB micelles. This is, to our knowledge, the first complete phase diagrams of surfactant-CD mixtures; as a novel feature it includes the observation of cocrystallization at high concentrations.