Development of Dipicolylamine-Modified Cyclodextrins for the Design of Selective Guest-Responsive Receptors for ATP.

The construction of supramolecular recognition systems based on specific host-guest interactions has been studied in order to design selective chemical sensors. In this study, guest-responsive receptors for ATP have been designed with cyclodextrins (CyDs) as a basic prototype of the turn-on type fluorescent indicator. We synthesized dipicolylamine (DPA)-modified CyD-Cu2+ complexes (Cu·1α, Cu·1ß, and Cu·1γ), and evaluated their recognition capabilities toward phosphoric acid derivatives in water. The UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence spectra revealed that Cu·1ß selectively recognized ATP over other organic and inorganic phosphates, and that ß-CyD had the most suitable cavity size for complexation with ATP. The 1D and 2D NMR analyses suggested that the ATP recognition was based on the host-guest interaction between the adenine moiety of ATP and the CyD cavity, as well as the recognition of phosphoric moieties by the Cu2+-DPA complex site. The specific interactions between the CyD cavity and the nucleobases enabled us to distinguish ATP from other nucleoside triphosphates, such as guanosine triphosphate (GTP), uridine triphosphate (UTP), and cytidine triphosphate (CTP). This study clarified the basic mechanisms of molecular recognition by modified CyDs, and suggested the potential for further application of CyDs in the design of highly selective supramolecular recognition systems for certain molecular targets in water.

Design and Function of Supramolecular Recognition Systems Based on Guest-Targeting Probe-Modified Cyclodextrin Receptors for ATP.

In this study, we have developed a rational design strategy to obtain highly selective supramolecular recognition systems of cyclodextrins (CyDs) on the basis of the lock and key principle. We designed and synthesized dipicolylamine (dpa)-modified γ-CyD-Cu2+ complexes possessing an azobenzene unit (Cu·1-γ-CyD) and examined how they recognized phosphoric acid derivatives in water. The results revealed that Cu·1-γ-CyD recognized ATP with high selectivity over other phosphoric acid derivatives. The significant blue shift in the UV-vis spectra and 1H NMR analysis suggested that the selective ATP recognition was based on the multipoint interactions between the adenine moiety of ATP and both the CyD cavity and the azobenzene unit in addition to the recognition of phosphoric moieties by the Cu-dpa complex site. Our unique receptor made it capable of distinguishing ATP from AMP and ADP, revealing the discrimination of even a length of one phosphoric group. This study demonstrates that, compared to conventional recognition systems of CyDs, this multipoint recognition system confers a higher degree of selectivity for certain organic molecules, such as ATP, over their similar derivatives.