page_title: Cyclodextrin
section_title: Structure
hierarchical_section_title: Cyclodextrin / Structure
caption_attribution_description: English: Gamma CD cone shape Deutsch: Gamma CD schematische Grundstruktur
context_page_description: Cyclodextrins are a family of cyclic oligosaccharides, consisting of a macrocyclic ring of glucose subunits joined by α-1,4 glycosidic bonds. Cyclodextrins are produced from starch by enzymatic conversion. They are used in food, pharmaceutical, drug delivery, and chemical industries, as well as agriculture and environmental engineering.
  Cyclodextrins are composed of 5 or more α-D-glucopyranoside units linked 1->4, as in amylose. The largest cyclodextrin contains 32 1,4-anhydroglucopyranoside units, while as a poorly characterized mixture, at least 150-membered cyclic oligosaccharides are also known. Typical cyclodextrins contain a number of glucose monomers ranging from six to eight units in a ring, creating a cone shape:
  α-cyclodextrin: 6 glucose subunits
  β-cyclodextrin: 7 glucose subunits
  γ-cyclodextrin: 8 glucose subunits
context_section_description: Typical cyclodextrins are constituted by 6-8 glucopyranoside units.  These subunits are linked by 1,4 glycosidic bonds.  The cyclodextrins have toroidal shapes, with the larger and the smaller openings of the toroid exposing to the solvent secondary and primary hydroxyl groups respectively. Because of this arrangement, the interior of the toroids is not hydrophobic, but considerably less hydrophilic than the aqueous environment and thus able to host other hydrophobic molecules. In contrast, the exterior is sufficiently hydrophilic to impart cyclodextrins (or their complexes) water solubility.  They are not soluble in typical organic solvents.
caption: γ-CD toroid structure showing spatial arrangement.
exif: {}