Capacity of small molecules to form β-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes

Experimental characterization of the association of β-cyclodextrin and eight novel cyclodextrin derivatives with two guest compounds

We investigate the binding of native β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and eight novel β-CD derivatives with two different guest compounds, using isothermal calorimetry and 2D NOESY NMR. In all cases, the stoichiometry is 1:1 and binding is exothermic. Overall, modifications at the 3' position of β-CD, which is at the secondary face, weaken binding by several kJ/mol relative to native β-CD, while modifications at the 6' position (primary face) maintain or somewhat reduce the binding affinity. The variations in binding enthalpy are larger than the variations in binding free energy, so entropy-enthalpy compensation is observed. Characterization of the bound conformations with NOESY NMR shows that the polar groups of the guests may be situated at either face, depending on the host molecule, and, in some cases, both orientations are populated. The present results were used in the SAMPL7 blinded prediction challenge whose results are detailed in the same special issue of JCAMD.

Molecular Dynamics Study of the Factors Influencing the β-Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complex Formation of the Isomers of Linear Molecules

The influence of the size, composition, and atomic distribution of linear guests on β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex formation is clarified by means of a molecular dynamics simulation at constant temperature. The intermolecular energy is modelled by a Lennard-Jones potential, where the molecular composition is represented by various parameters and by a continuum description of the guest and cavity walls. It is concluded that the parameters related to the atomic size require minimum values for the confinement of linear molecules inside the cavity. The isomer with optimal affinity for β-cyclodextrin as predicted by the free energy presents an asymmetrical molecular structure, and the position probability density shows that the isomer tends to insert the portion with largest atoms into the cavity, although the preferential binding site of the guest is not always located in regions of the host with maximum discriminatory power.