The cyclopentyl group was expected to act as a building block for artificial carbohydrate receptors and to participate in van der Waals contacts with the carbohydrate substrate in a similar way as observed for the pyrrolidine ring of proline in the crystal structures of protein-carbohydrate complexes. Systematic binding studies with a series of 1,3,5-trisubstituted 2,4,6-triethylbenzenes bearing various cycloalkyl groups as recognition units provided indications of the involvement of these groups in the complexation process and showed the influence of the ring size on the receptor efficiency. Representatives of compounds that exhibit a macrocyclic backbone and flexible side arms were now chosen as further model systems to investigate whether the previously observed effects represent a general trend. Binding studies with these macrocycles towards β-D-glucopyranoside, an all-equatorial substituted carbohydrate substrate, included 1H NMR spectroscopic titrations and microcalorimetric investigations. The performed studies confirmed the previously observed tendency and showed that the compound bearing cyclohexyl groups displays the best binding properties.
Keywords: carbohydrates; cycloalkyl groups; macrocycle; molecular recognition; receptor; van der Waals interactions.