Multifrequency ESR study of spin-labeled molecules in inclusion compounds with cyclodextrins

The molecular dynamics of spin-labeled compounds included into the solid phase of cyclodextrins (CDs) has been studied using conventional (X-band) ESR at 9 GHz and high-field high-frequency (HFHF) ESR at 240 and 170 GHz. The patterns of axial rotation at these higher frequencies are clear just by inspection of the spectrum, unlike the case for 9 GHz spectra. That is HFHF ESR is sensitive to molecular motion about the diffusion axis collinear with the X, Y or Z-direction of the magnetic g- and A-tensors of the nitroxide moiety (referred to, respectively, as X, Y or Z-rotation). For doxyl stearic acids (Z-rotation) and TEMPOyl caprylate (X-rotation) included in β- and γ-CDs we were able to determine the rate of molecular motion and the corresponding potential barriers. We emphasize that determining the rate of Z-rotation by ESR is feasible only using HFHF ESR. For the X-rotation case we suggest that the motion of the nitroxide moiety consists of fast small-angle librations about the magnetic X-axis superimposed by rotational diffusion about the same axis. The potential barrier of 1.7 Kcal mol−1 for this rotational diffusion is unusually low. A fascinating feature of TEMPO derivatives included in β-CD is the detectable molecular motion at temperatures below 77 K. For the other CD-spin probe systems, we used multifrequency analysis to assign the conformations of spin-labeled molecules. A dramatic spectral change for 16-sasl in β- and γ-CDs at ∼260 K corresponds to a tilting of the position of the nitroxide moiety on the rotating molecule relative to the long diffusion axis, while for TEMPO derivatives in γ-cyclodextrin below 200 K, we observe a rapid transition from fast to very slow rotational motion. More complex features are best studied by means of multifrequency ESR experiments. The visual clarity and the simplicity of analysis of the ESR spectra shown in this work should provide a benchmark for future studies of molecular motion by HFHF ESR.