Inclusion compounds of plant growth regulators in cyclodextrins, part VII: study of the crystal structures of 2-naphthylacetic acid encapsulated in β-cyclodextrin and heptakis(2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-β-cyclodextrin complexes by X-ray crystallography

Abstract

The crystal structures of the β-naphthylacetic acid (2NAA)/β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and the 2NAA/heptakis(2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-β-CD (TMβCD) complexes are reported. The 2NAA/β-CD complex crystallizes in the triclinic system forming a dimer inside the cavity of which two 2NAA molecules disordered over two sites are located. The dimers are stacked along the c axis according to the channel packing mode forming a nanotube which resembles a wireway as it contains guest molecules linked by π–π interactions inside each dimeric cavity and by H-bonds between the adjacent dimers. The 2NAA/TMβCD complex crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group P212121. Its asymmetric unit contains one host, one guest distributed over two sites and one water molecule having a low occupancy factor. The complexes are packed in a head-to-tail mode forming a screw channel along the b axis. The carboxyl group of the guest protrudes towards the “free” space between the complexes and is H-bonded to the water molecule which in turn is H-bonded to the O5n atom of the host of the subsequent complex. The orientation of the guest molecule in the 2NAA/β-CD complex has been found opposite to that of the guest in the 2NAA/TMβCD complex probably due to the formation of dimers and the π–π interactions between the naphthalene moieties of the encapsulated molecules inside the dimeric cavity.