Due to the medical importance of dibenzoylmethane, one of the aims of the study was to find an appropriate packing material and a biologically friendly co-solvent to help its introduction into living systems. Accordingly, redox properties of dibenzoylmethane were investigated on glassy carbon electrodes in acetonitrile and in 1-propanol with cyclic voltammetry, and showed a diffusion-controlled process. In the anodic window, an oxidation peak appeared at around 1.9 V in both solvents. Cycling repeatedly between 0 and 2 V, the reproducibility of this peak was acceptable, but when extending the window to higher potentials, the electrode deactivated, obviously due to electrode material. The addition of the investigated tetrakis(3,5-dicarboxyphenoxy) cavitand did not significantly change the voltammograms. Further electrochemical experiments showed that the coexistence of water in acetonitrile and 1-propanol drastically reduces the solubility of dibenzoylmethane. Moreover, very rapid electrode deactivation occurred and this fact made the use of electrochemical methods complicated. Considering that both the cavitand and dibenzoylmethane are soluble in dimethyl sulfoxide, the interaction of these species was investigated and formation of stable complexes was detected. This observation was verified with fluorescence quenching studies. The mixture of water and dimethyl sulphoxide also dramatically improved the solubility of the cavitand-dibenzoylmethane complex at high excess of water. The addition of cavitand improved the solubility of dibenzoylmethane, a property which supports the application of dibenzoylmethane in therapy.
Keywords: cavitand; dibenzoylmethane; fluorescence; host–guest interaction; voltammetry.