Distinctive Supramolecular Features of β-Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complexes with Antidepressants Protriptyline and...

Depression, a global mental illness, is worsened due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019) pandemic. Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) are efficacious for the treatment of depression, even though they have more side effects. Cyclodextrins (CDs) are powerful encapsulating agents for improving molecular stability, water solubility, and lessening the undesired effects of drugs. Because the atomic-level understanding of the β-CD-TCA inclusion complexes remains elusive, we carried out a comprehensive structural study via single-crystal X-ray diffraction and density functional theory (DFT) full-geometry optimization. Here, we focus on two complexes lining on the opposite side of the β-CD-TCA stability spectrum based on binding constants (K_as) in solution, β-CD-protriptyline (PRT) 1-most stable and β-CD-maprotiline (MPL) 2-least stable. X-ray crystallography unveiled that in the β-CD cavity, the PRT B-ring and MPL A-ring are aligned at a nearly perfect right angle against the O4 plane and primarily maintained in position by intermolecular C-H···π interactions. The increased rigidity of the tricyclic cores is arising from the PRT -CH=CH- bridge widens, and the MPL -CH₂-CH₂- flexure narrows the butterfly angles, facilitating the deepest and shallower insertions of PRT B-ring (1) and MPL A-ring (2) in the distorted round β-CD cavity for better complexation. This is indicated by the DFT-derived complex stabilization energies (ΔE_stbs), although the complex stability orders based on K_as and ΔE_stbs are different. The dispersion and the basis set superposition error (BSSE) corrections were considered to improve the DFT results. Plus, the distinctive 3D arrangements of 1 and 2 are discussed. This work provides the first crystallographic evidence of PRT and MPL stabilized in the β-CD cavity, suggesting the potential application of CDs for efficient drug delivery.