A Quantitative Study of the Effects of Guest Flexibility on Binding Inside a Coordination Cage Host.

ABSTRACT: We have performed a systematic investigation of the effects of guest flexibility on their ability to bind in the cavity of a coordination cage host in water, using two sets of isomeric aliphatic ketones that differ only in the branching patterns of their alkyl chains. Apart from the expected increase in binding strength for C₉ over C₇ ketones associated with their greater hydrophobic surface area, within each isomeric set there is a clear inverse correlation between binding free energy and guest flexibility, associated with loss of conformational entropy. This can be parameterized by the number of rotatable C-C bonds in the guest, with each additional rotatable bond resulting in a penalty of around 2 kJ mol^-1 in the binding free energy, in good agreement wi

SUBMITTER: Taylor CG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6680264 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature