Chemical Modification of β-Cyclodextrins: Balancing Soft and Rigid Domains in Complex Structures.

Crystalline polymers such as β-cyclodextrin (βCD) can be modified with polyethylene glycol (PEG) diglycidyl ether cross-linkers (262, 394, 500 Da). In this work, the authors show that the quantity and length of the PEG soft segments influence the solubility and malleability of the products, which are water soluble and easily converted to nitrated analogues under standard reaction conditions. Inert and nitrated derivatives containing longer PEG segments showed the ability to self-heal.