NMR studies of molecular conformations in α-cyclodextrin

A new approach for analysis of NMR parameters is proposed. The experimental data set includes scalar couplings, NOEs, and residual dipolar couplings. The method, which aims at construction of the conformational distribution function, is applied to alpha-cyclodextrin in isotropic solution and dissolved in a dilute liquid crystal. An attempt to analyze the experimental data using an average molecular conformation resulted in unacceptable errors. Our approach rests on the maximum entropy method (ME), which gives the flattest possible distribution, consistent with the experimental data. Very good agreement between experimental and calculated NMR parameters was observed. In fact, two conformational states were required in order to obtain a satisfactory agreement between calculated and experimental data. In addition, good agreement with Langevin dynamics computer simulations was obtained.