Configurational studies of complexes of tea catechins with caffeine and various cyclodextrins.

A suspension of an equimolecular amount of ENT-gallocatechin-3-O-gallate ( ENTGCg) and caffeine in water afforded two kinds of crystals, which were 1 : 2 and 2 : 2 complexes of ENTGCg and caffeine. The stereochemical structures and intermolecular interactions between ENTGCg and caffeine were determined by X-ray crystallographic analysis. The crystal structure of ENTGCg was determined and compared with those of the 1 : 2 and 2 : 2 complexes.

Structure and intramolecular flexibility of beta-cyclodextrin complex with (-)-epigallocatechin gallate in aqueous solvent.

The probable structure of the inclusion complex of beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg) in D2O was investigated using several NMR techniques. EGCg formed a 1:1 complex with beta-CD, in which the A ring and a portion of the C ring of EGCg were included at the head of the phenolic hydroxyl group attached to C7 of EGCg in the beta-CD cavity from the wide secondary hydroxyl group side. In the 1:1 complex with beta-CD, EGCg maintained the conformation in which the B and B' rings of EGCg took pseudoequatorial and pseudoaxial positions with respect to the C ring, respectively.