Construction of Supramolecular Polymers with Alternating α-, β-Cyclodextrin Units Using Conformational Change Induced by Competitive Guests

Supramolecular polymers having alternating alpha- and beta-cyclodextrin (CD) units have been prepared by using conformational change induced by competitive guests. Although each CD unit does not form intermolecular complexes, a mixture of an alpha-CD derivative and a beta-CD derivative formed intermolecular complexes to give supramolecular polymers having alternating CD units. This is the first example of construction of supramolecular polymers with alternating alpha-, beta-cyclodextrin units.