Heat capacity contributions to the formation of inclusion complexes

An analysis scheme for the formation of the inclusion complexes in water is presented. It is exemplified for the case where the host is alpha-cyclodextrin and the guest is a linear alcohol (1-propanol to 1-octanol) or the isomers of 1-pentanol. Eight transfer isobaric heat capacities, DeltatCp, involving different initial and final states are evaluated at infinite dilution of the guest using both data determined in this work and from the literature. Apart from the usual definition for the inclusion heat capacity change, three inclusion transfers are used. The sign of each DeltatCp indicates if the transfer is an order-formation or an order-destruction process. From the DeltatCp data, the main contributions to the heat capacity of cyclodextrin complexation, namely, those due to dehydration of the hydrophobic section of the guest molecule, H-bond formation, formation of hydrophobic interactions, and release of water molecules from the cyclodextrin cavity, are estimated. The relative weight of each of these contributions to the DeltatCp values is discussed, providing a better characterization of the molecular recognition process involved in the inclusion phenomena.