The Role of Inclusion Binding Contributions for β-Cyclodextrin Polymers Cross-Linked with Divinyl Sulfone?—A Comment on Morales-Sanfrutos et al. Entitled “Divinyl Sulfone Cross-Linked Cyclodextrin-Based Polymeric Materials: Synthesis and Applications as Sorbents and Encapsulating Agents”, Molecules, 2015, 20, 3565–3581.

Abstract

This commentary reports on a recent scientific study reported in this journal (cf. Molecules 2015, 20(3), 3565–3581). Some key scientific issues that require further explanation and clarification in the former article are as follows: (i) the relationship between the inclusion site accessibility and the level of cross-linking employed are brought into question for the case of α-CD and β-CD cross-linked adsorbent materials; (ii) the binding affinity of the CD/guest complexes were not related to the isotherm parameters for the CD-polymer/guest systems; (iii) the limited molecular level structural characterization of the cross-linked polymer materials; and (iv) the interpretation of the adsorption isotherm results by the authors.

Keywords

• β-cyclodextrin
• cross-linking
• divinyl sulfone
• adsorption
• inclusion binding
• polymer
• phenolphthalein