Past, present and futute of cyclodextrin research
J. Szejtli
CYCLOLAB Cyclodextrin R & D Laboratory, Ltd., Budapest,
Hungary
Abstract: The macrocyclic cyclodextrins (enzymic conversion
products of starch) were discovered in 1891, and the structures were
elucidated in the mid-1930s. Their industrial significance become obvious
in the 1970s, and by now thousand of tons of the three cyclodextrins
(alpha-, beta-, and gamma-CD) and of their chemical derivatives and
inclusion complexes are produced industrially. The outer surface of
these doughnut-shaped molecules is hydrophilic, but they possess an
axial open cavity, which is of hydrophobic character and capable of
including other apolar molecules (or their moiety) in case of geometric
compatibility. This is the essence of molecular encapsulation by inclusion
complex formation.
*Plenary lecture presented at the 28th International Conference on Solution Chemistry, Debrecen, Hungary, 23-28 August 2003. Other presentations are published in this issue, pp. 1809-1919.
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