A Molecular Orbital Study of Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complexes. I. The Calculation of the Dipole Moments of α-Cyclodextrin Aromatic Guest Complexes

Abstract

The dipole moments of α-cyclodextrin(α-CD)-aromatic guest systems have been calculated by means of the CNDO/2 molecular orbital (MO) method in order to investigate the role of electrostatic interaction in the stabilization of the inclusion complexes. It is found that α-CD has a remarkably large dipole moment which amounts to 13.5 D and is directed from its secondary hydroxyl side (the wider rim) towards the primary hydroxyl side (the narrower rim). The dipole moments of the guests, benzene derivatives, run antiparallel to that of α-CD in the complexed state. The MO total energy of the α-CD-guest supermolecular complexes shows that these antiparallel-orientations are energitically more favorable than the reversed one. It is concluded that the electrostatic interaction, mainly dipole–dipole interaction, between the α-CD and the guest molecules plays an essential role in determining the guest orientation. On the basis of these results, it is deduced that during complexation the CD molecule undergoes appreciable amount of conformational change, suggesting that the “induced-fit” mechanism is operating when the guest molecule is admitted into the host cavity.