Self-Assembly of a Molecular Capsule Driven by Electrostatic Interaction in Aqueous Solution

Abstract

A self-assembling molecular capsule based on electrostatic interaction has been designed and its structure is investigated by dynamic 1H NMR. The hydrodynamic description resulting from relaxation and PGSE 1H NMR experiments indicates that association between oppositely charged hydrophilic β-cyclodextrin derivatives in 50 mM KCl aqueous solution corresponds to dimerization with an interdistance between interacting units lying in the 0.4−1.1 nm range with a maximal probability at 0.6 nm.