Use of liquid crystals for imaging different inclusion abilities of α-cyclodextrin and β-cyclodextrin toward cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide

Principles and applications of cyclodextrin liquid crystals

Cyclodextrin-based liquid crystals and their emerging applications are described in this tutorial review, which covers reports from the last decade with a focus on recent developments. Although cyclodextrins are among the best studied macrocyclic host molecules and liquid crystals have found widespread technological application, the integration of cyclodextrins in liquid crystals as versatile supramolecular materials has been barely explored. However, in the last few years promising innovations in molecular design as well as proof-of-concept applications such as ion-conductive and proton-conductive liquid crystals, nanoparticle additives for liquid crystal display technology, polyrotaxane-based liquid crystals and liquid crystal-based sensors have been reported. We discuss various examples of cyclodextrin-based liquid crystals that demonstrate the significant potential of these unique soft materials for future research and interdisciplinary applications.

Chemistry and engineering of cyclodextrins for molecular imaging

Cyclodextrins (CDs) are naturally occurring cyclic oligosaccharides bearing a basket-shaped topology with an "inner-outer" amphiphilic character. The abundance of hydroxyl groups enables CDs to be functionalized with multiple targeting ligands and imaging elements. The imaging time, and the payload of different imaging elements, can be tuned by taking advantage of the commercial availability of CDs with different sizes of the cavity. This review aims to offer an outlook of the chemistry and engineering of CDs for the development of molecular probes. Complexation thermodynamics of CDs, and the corresponding implications for probe design, are also presented with examples demonstrating the structural and physiochemical roles played by CDs in the full ambit of molecular imaging. We hope that this review not only offers a synopsis of the current development of CD-based molecular probes, but can also facilitate translation of the incremental advancements from the laboratory to real biomedical applications by illuminating opportunities and challenges for future research.