Crystallographic and Solid State NMR Analysis of Cyclodextrin Complexes with Derivatized Amino Acids. Joanna L. Clark, Jennifer M. Alexander, Tom J. Brett, Charles R. Ross II, Gerard S. Harbison, and John J. Stezowski, Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0304.

Single crystal X-ray diffraction methods are being used to study several [beta]-cyclodextrin ((-CD) inclusion complexes of derivatized D- and L-amino acids. Crystallographic studies of an N-acetyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester/(-CD complex show that the guests are disordered in a temperature-dependent fashion. Several solid state NMR techniques are being utilized to study this disorder, including ²H motional studies and ¹³C CPMAS NMR.

It is hoped that by combining X-ray measurements with solid state NMR information, definitive characterization of the guest disorder inside the torus will be possible. Characterizing this disorder for complexes of various enantiomers should lead to increased understanding of the interactions involved in molecular and chiral recognition.