Evidence of cyclodextrin aggregation obtained with Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy

We have studied the complexation between an adamantane derivative labelled with the fluorescent probe Alexa 488 and the three natural cyclodextrins (-, - and -CD) by Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS), demonstrating the ability of this technique to detect association and to determine the corresponding equilibrium constants with no need for changes in the fluorescence properties of the guest. At low CD concentrations the observed increase of the diffusion time of the probe is mainly due to the complexation of the adamantyl moiety, but further changes are observed when increasing CD concentration that are attributed to the formation of CD aggregates. These aggregates appear at quite low CD concentrations and seem to be formed by a small number of CD molecules. These results show the potential of FCS for the study of CD self-assembly, a recently-recognized phenomenon that could be used to improve certain applications of CDs.