Investigation on the inclusion interaction of 4-sulfonatocalix[n]arenes with 1-(4-nitrophenyl)piperazine

•The inclusion behaviors of SCXn–NPP complexes were studied by spectroscopy.•The K values of SCXn–NPP complexes decreased with the increasing of pH value.•The inclusion mechanism was explored by 1H NMR and molecular modeling studies.

The inclusion behaviors of 4-Sulfonatocalix[n]arenes (SCXn) (n = 4, 6, 8) with 1-(4-nitrophenyl)piperazine (NPP) were investigated by UV spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy at different pH values (pH = 3.05, 6.50, 8.40). The UV absorption and fluorescence intensity of NPP remarkably increased in presence of SCXn revealing formation of the inclusion complexes between NPP and SCXn. Moreover, the formation constants (K) of inclusion complexes were also determined by the non-linear fitting method, and the obtained data showed that the formation constants decreased gradually with the increasing of the pH value. When the pH value was 3.05, the formation constant of NPP with SCX8 reached a maximum of 1.7 × 107 L mol−1. The stoichiometric ratio was verified to be 1:1 by the continuous variation method. Meanwhile FT-IR and DSC analysis also indicated that NPP could form the inclusion complex with SCXn. In order to explore the inclusion mechanism of NPP with SCXn, 1H NMR and molecular modeling studies were carried out and experimental results showed that the part of benzene ring of NPP penetrated into the hydrophobic cavity of SCXn.

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