Diverse Modes of Guest Inclusion in a Cyclodextrin: X-ray Structural and Thermal Characterization of a 4:3 β-cyclodextrin—Cyclizine Complex

Abstract

1-Diphenylmethyl-4-methylpiperazine (cyclizine) is an antiemetic drug which forms an inclusion complex with β-cyclodextrin of formula (β-cyclodextrin)4 · (cyclizine)3 · 50H2O. This species crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21 with a = 15.246(1), b = 65.075(5), c = 15.609(1) Å, β = 102.62(1)° and Z = 2 formula units. Complex water content and the host:drug stoichiometric ratio were determined by thermogravimetry and UV spectrophotometry respectively. Differential scanning calorimetry showed that the crystals dehydrate in at least two stages and begin to decompose from approximately 250°C. The crystal structure was solved by a combination of Patterson search and direct methods. Isotropic refinement converged at R = 0.094 for 8806 reflections with I > 2σ(I). The unusual stoichiometry is accounted for as follows: the four β-cyclodextrin molecules comprising the asymmetric unit occur as two independent head-to-head dimers, each formed by O—H…O hydrogen bonding across the macro-cyclic secondary surfaces. One dimer contains two cyclizine guest molecules in head-to-tail orientation, thus accounting for two distinct modes of drug inclusion. In the second dimer, only one β-cyclodextrin molecule is significantly occupied by a cyclizine molecule (in a mode analogous to one of those in the first dimer), the other half of the dimer being largely devoid of guest. A possible mechanism for the formation of this unusual structure is proposed and the crystal packing arrangement is shown to be based on a novel disrupted tetrameric channel motif.