Photoinduced Electron Transfer in Host-Guest Complexes of α- and β-Substituted Naphthalene Derivatives with Mono-6-O-m-Nitrobenzoyl-β-Cyclodextrin

Mono-6-O-m-nitrobenzoyl-β-cyclodextrin (mNBCD) was synthesized as a novel supramolecular electron acceptor. Both the theoretical and experimental analyses suggested that mNBCD should possess a self-inclusion conformation. Fluorescence quenching experiments revealed efficient photoinduced electron transfers (PET) between mNBCD and naphthalene compounds in aqueous solution. This PET process was partitioned into a dynamic quenching component caused by bimolecule collision reactions and a static quenching component due to hydrophobic binding between the donor and acceptor molecules. Both the dynamic Stern–Volmer constants and static binding constants were determined. It was found that the binding constants of mNBCD complexes were higher than those of β-cyclodextrin complexes.This revised version was published online in July 2005 with a corrected issue number.