Encapsulation of 3-hydroxyflavone and fisetin in β-cyclodextrins: Excited state proton transfer fluorescence and molecular mechanics studies

Excited-state intramolecular proton-transfer (ESIPT) and dual emission properties (emission profile, anisotropy and decay kinetics) of 3-hydroxyflavone (a synthetic, model flavonol) and fisetin (3,7,3′,4′-OH-flavone, a therapeutically active plant flavonol) have been exploited to study their encapsulation in nano-cavities comprising of natural and chemically modified β-cyclodextrins. In the presence of β-CDs, both the flavonols show significantly enhanced relative yields (along with changes in other emission parameters) of the tautomer emission. In addition, for fisetin, large blue shifts are observed for the normal emission (which has significant charge transfer character). From these we infer that the flavonols are encaged in predominantly hydrophobic micro-environments, where external hydrogen bonding perturbations (interfering with the intrinsic ESIPT), and dipolar relaxation effects, are minimized. This is further explained from results of molecular mechanics calculations which indicate selectivity in orientation of the encapsulated flavonols. Moreover, chemical modification of the β-CDs is found to profoundly influence the binding affinities of the guest flavonols.