Molecular mechanics study of β-cyclodextrin 6-O-monobenzoate inclusion complexes

Calculations have been done on beta-cyclodextrin 6-O-monobenzoate and its complexes using molecular mechanics MM2 force field. The guest molecules involved were n-hexane, n-heptane, n-octane, cyclohexane, methylcyclohexane, cyclooctane and methylcyclooctane. Owing to lack of dipole-dipole and hydrogen-bonding interactions in the inclusion complexation of the modified cyclodextrin, the calculations of the geometry of the complexes and the inclusion process indicated that the complex formation is stabilized by van der Waals interaction. The energy differences of the modified cyclodextrins by calculation show that the size, shape, conformation of the guest molecules play significant roles in the inclusion complexation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.