Macroscopic Observations of Molecular Recognition: Discrimination of the Substituted Position on the Naphthyl Group by Polyacrylamide Gel Modified with β-Cyclodextrin

Macroscopic molecular recognition observations were realized using polyacrylamide-based gels modified with alpha-cyclodextrin (alpha-CD), beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD), 1-naphthylmethyl (1Np), and 2-naphthylmethyl (2Np) moieties, which are denoted as alpha CD(x)-gel, beta CD(x)-gel, 1Np(y)-gel, and 2Np(y)-gel, where x and y indicate the mol % of CD and Np moieties, respectively. The alpha CD(5)-gel did not adhere to either the 1Np(5)-gel or 2Np(5)-gel, whereas the beta CD (5)-gel interacted with both to form alternating or checkered assemblies. Although the difference in the association constants of beta-CD for the model polymers was small, the beta CD(x)-gel successfully discriminated between 1Np(y)-gel and 2Np(y)-gel at the appropriate x and y.