Functionalized Β-Cyclodextrin for Smart Drug Delivery Application

Abstract

In recent years, an emphasis has been established on advanced cancer drug delivery, in order to improve the efficiency of the cancer therapy [1]. Cyclodextrin (CD) is a cyclic oligosaccharide formed by 6, 7, or 8 glucose units by α-1,4 glycosidic bonds, which are called α, β, γ-cyclodextrin, respectively [2]. Due to its hollow truncated morphology with a hydrophobic inside and hydrophilic outside, CD has been studied in numerous drug delivery systems [3–5]. In the present study, the modification of β-CD with 3-(Aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) was investigated. For this study we used: β-Cyclodextrin (β-CD) purchased from Fluka, 3-(Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) from Sigma Aldrich, NaOH from Roth, dimethylforamide (DMF) from Acros Organics, and acetone from Chimreactiv. Firstly, NaOH, APTES, and DMF were solubilized by magnetic stirring for 1 h at 40 °C. After solubilization, β-CD was added and allowed to react for 2 h, at 40 °C, under magnetic stirring. The functionalized β-CD was precipitated in acetone, and in the end washed and filtered. The sample was dried at room temperature and investigated by NMR. The 1H NMR was employed to further demonstrate the molecular structure of β-CD. The obtained NMR spectrum of β-CD shows the presence of characteristic proton peaks. The chemical structure of functionalized β-CD was studied, in order to look for possible biomedical applications, such as smart drug delivery systems.

Keywords

• β-cyclodextrin
• drug delivery
• cancer therapy