Cyclodextrin trimers as receptors for arranging ester and catalyst at optimized location to achieve enhancement of hydrolytic activity

Two novel trimer receptor molecules (AC and AD trimers) consisting of two α-cyclodextrins (α-CDs) and one β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) have been designed and synthesized in order to make an optimum arrangement between a substrate and a catalyst. In the reaction systems that use trimer receptors as host molecules, the substrate and the catalyst are thought to be accommodated by two α-CDs and one β-CD, respectively. The rate for the hydrolytic reaction of a long-shaped ester was largely increased, when the trimer receptors were used as receptor molecules or molecular flasks, which provided optimum location between the substrate and the catalyst.