Electronic structure and normal vibrations in (+)-catechin and (-)-epicatechin encapsulated beta-cyclodextrin.

Host-guest interactions between beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) and flavan-3-Ol enantiomers (guest) namely, (+)-catechin (CA) or (-)-epicatechin (EC), have been analyzed within the framework of density functional theory. Both CA and EC consist of two phenol rings, I and II, and a pyran ring, III, which facilitate a variety of binding patterns with the host, beta-CD. The minimum energy beta-CD-CA complex reveals that ring II of CA interacts with primary hydroxyls of the upper rim and the phenol ring I engenders hydrogen-bonded interactions with secondary hydroxyl from the lower rim of CD. On the other hand, the O-H...O interactions between ring I and primary hydroxyls of beta-CD along with those between one of hydroxyl of ring II and secondary hydroxyl of the host render large stability to the beta-CD-EC complex. Structures of both beta-CD-CA and beta-CD-EC complexes thus obtained are in consonant with those inferred from the experimental NMR data and exhibit distinct features in infrared spectra. The frequency shifts of characteristic vibrations in infrared spectra of these complexes compared to the unbound individual host or guest in its free state have been analyzed with the use of natural bond orbital analyses and combining difference electron density maps with bond critical points in molecular electron density topography.