Posted by This nicely illustrated review article summarizes the syntheses and structural analyses of CD polyrotaxanes and polycatenanes to facilitate their applications in the pharmaceutical industry.
Currently, no examples of practical applications of polypseudorotaxanes or polyrotaxanes in the clinical field are available. Although polypseudorotaxanes and polyrotaxanes can be facilely prepared, distributions in the molecular weight of the axial molecule, number of CDs, and number of functional groups in derivatization exist. For clinical applications of CD-based interlocked molecules such as polyrotaxanes, these molecules must be synthesized with maximum homogeneities and their qualities must be assured via strict regulation. The authors believe that the construction of CD-based interlocked molecules meeting these requirements will accelerate the clinical use of these molecules.
Additionally, although to date, no applications of CD polycatenanes have been reported, the authors are currently investigating the application of CD polycatenanes as drug carriers. Compared to the case of CD polyrotaxanes, scientific data on CD polycatenanes is still lacking. However, CDs in polyrotaxanes exhibit one-dimensional reciprocating motions along with the axial molecule, whereas CDs in polycatenanes demonstrates two-dimensional circular motions. This difference in motion may enable the development of new materials with advanced functions. In conclusion, CD polyrotaxanes and polycatenanes exhibit outstanding potentials as next-generation pharmaceutical materials surpassing conventional materials.
Taishi Higashi, Toru Taharabaru, Keiichi Motoyama (2024) Synthesis of cyclodextrin-based polyrotaxanes and polycatenanes for supramolecular pharmaceutical sciences. Carbohydrate Polymers 337, 122143.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2024.122143.