Polymerization of Included Monomers and Behaviour of Resulting Polymers

Cyclodextrins (CDs) are of interest to synthetic chemists because of their chemical stability and the possibility to modify these molecules in a regioselective manner. For supramolecular chemistry CDs are of great importance, since they represent a homologous series of water-soluble and chiral host molecules which can be used as models for studying weak interactions. In addition, their low price provides motivation for the discovery of new applications. Thus, CDs are used for the solubilization and encapsulation of drugs, perfumes, and flavourings. These applications are due to their low toxicity and their biodegradablity. Finally, they are of general interest because they are obtained from a renewable resource, starch (Eggersdorfer, M., Warwel, S., Wulff, G.: Nachwachsende Rohstoffe Perspektiven fur die Chemie. VCH, Weinheim (1993).