Cyclodextrin—chiral substrate interactions

Abstract The inclusion compounds of (+)-, (−)- and (±)-menthol have been studied by 500-MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in deuterium oxide and by molecular graphics techniques. The molecular graphics modelling suggests a slightly reduced degree of Van der Waals interactions in the case of (−)-menthol coupled with greater chemical inequivalence of the CH 3 groups of the isopropyl function. These results have been confirmed by 1 H NMR studies which show the CH 3 protons to be sensitive to the external environment.