the invention will be more easily understood from the following description of some examples , given by way of reference to the accompanying figures : fig2 scheme of modular design of a cylindrical ( a ), and a wedge - shaped ( b ) macro - amphiphile based on a macrocyclic core , fig5 elution of carboxyfluorescein ( cf ) entrapped in he - sc 12 - cd , he - sc 16 - cd vesicles , fig6 release of cf from he - sc 16 - cd vesicles , and fig7 comparison of transfection abilities of dotap and oligoethylenoxy ( hydroxyethyl ) cyclodextrins ( he )- sc 6 , — sc 6 nh 2 , — sc 16 and — sc 16 nh 2 . the macrocyclic oligosaccharide molecules are amphiphilic , with lipophilic groups on one face of the macrocycle , and polar hydrophilic groups on the other face . the relative effective volumes of the combined lipophilic and polar groups at either side of the molecule determine the shape of the amphiphile ( fig2 ), which in turn determines the geometry of its self - assembly ( j . israelachvili , intermolecular and surface forces , 2nd edn ., academic press , 1991 , chapter 17 ). those with relatively small or few lipophilic groups and many or large polar groups are wedge - shaped and tend to form micelles , in which the larger polar ends of the molecules are turned outwards towards the solvent and the smaller lipophilic ends are turned inwards , away from the solvent . in contrast , derivatives with lipophilic and polar ends of comparable effective volumes are cylinder - shaped and tend to form bilayers , which close into vesicles with one or more bilayered walls . ( those with a large lipophilic end and a small polar end form inverted micellar phases in nonpolar solvents .) these modifications make possible the inclusion of guest molecules not only within the macrocycle cavities , but also within the lipophilic and aqueous interiors of the molecular assemblies . example 1 illustrates the introduction of lipophilic groups onto one side ( the primary side ) of a cyclodextrin molecule . examples 2 and 3 illustrate the introduction of hydroxyethyl ( oligoethylenoxy ) groups as polar groups onto the other side ( the secondary side ) of the molecule . example 4 illustrates the preparation of a lyotropic phase of amphiphilic cyclodextrin ; preparation of a complex of this with a hydrophilic ( water - soluble ) host molecule , carboxyfluorescein ; and confirmation that the lifetime of entrapment is greater than three days . example 5 illustrates the formation of a complex with a lipophilic guest molecule , an azadipyrromethene . example 6 illustrates the preparation of a polyamino ( polycationic ) cyclodextrin amphiphile . example 7 describes the synthesis of a cyclodextrin bola amphiphile . example 8 illustrates the use of a cyclodextrin amphiphile in delivery of a guest molecule ( plasmid dna ) to the interior of biological cells , as measured by resulting transfection . a solution of hexanethiol ( 11 g , 93 mmol ) in dry dimethylformamide was stirred under an atmosphere of nitrogen and with exclusion of moisture during addition of potassium tert - butoxide ( 10 . 5 g , 93 mmol ). after 30 min , heptakis ( 6 - bromo - 6 - deoxy )- β - cyclodextrin ( 7 g , 4 . 4 mmol ) ( prepared by the method of gadelle and defaye , angewandte chemie , int . ed . engl ., 1991 , 30 , 78 ) was added . the reaction mixture was stirred at 80 ° c . ( 5 days ), then cooled and poured into an excess of water . the precipitated product was filtered off , washed repeatedly with water , then methanol , and finally stirred in hexane before filtration and drying under vacuum ( 10 h ). yield was 5 . 7 g ( 70 %), m . p . 278 ° c . ( decomp .). 1 h nmr ( 270 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ 6 . 72 ( d , j = 6 . 4 hz , oh - 2 ), 5 . 25 ( s , oh - 3 ), 4 . 97 ( d , j = 3 . 1 hz , h - 1 ), 4 . 03 - 3 . 89 ( m , h - 3 , h - 5 ), 3 . 74 ( m , h - 2 ), 3 . 49 ( m , h - 4 ), 3 . 07 ( m , h - 6a ), 2 . 89 ( m , h - 6b ), 2 . 61 ( t , sch 2 ), 1 . 57 - 1 . 29 , ( m , ch 2 ′), 0 . 89 ( t , ch 3 ) ppm . 13 c nmr ( 270 mhz , dmso - d 6 ): δ 105 . 9 ( c - 1 ), 88 . 7 ( c - 4 ), 76 . 6 , 76 . 2 , 75 . 5 ( c - 3 , c - 2 , c - 5 ), 37 . 4 - 32 . 0 ( cs of alkyl chain ), 26 . 0 ( c - 6 ) ppm . microanalysis : calculated for ( c 12 h 22 o 4 s ) 7 , c , 54 . 94 ; h , 8 . 45 ; s , 12 . 22 . found , c , 55 . 9 ; h , 8 . 95 ; s , 12 . 35 %. heptakis ( 6 - dodecylthio )- β - cyclodextrin ( 500 mg , 200 mmol ), 50 mg of k 2 co 3 and 1 . 00 g of ethylene carbonate ( 56 eq .) were mixed in 5 ml of tetramethylurea . the k 2 co 3 did not completely dissolve . the reaction mixture was stirred at 150 ° c . for 4 hours . at the end of this period , tlc ( silica , chcl 3 / meoh / h 2 o 50 / 10 / 1 ) indicated complete conversion of the starting material with r f 0 and formation of a single product with r f 0 . 5 . furthermore , co 2 emission had ceased . the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and the solvent was removed by rotary evaporation at 100 ° c . the crude product was isolated as a brown viscous oil , which was taken up in 2 ml of methanol and purified by size - exclusion chromatography through a column of 8 g of lipophilic sephadex lh 20 - 100 using methanol as eluent . product ( 560 mg , 184 mmol , 89 % yield ) was isolated as a yellow wax . 1 h - nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 5 . 05 ( br , 7h , h - 1 ), 3 . 4 - 4 . 0 ( m , 84h , h - 2 , h - 3 , h - 4 , h - 5 and 14 × och 2 ch 2 o ), 3 . 00 ( m , 14h , h - 6 ), 2 . 60 ( m , 14h , sch 2 ), 1 . 60 ( m , 14h , ch 2 ), 1 . 27 ( br s , 126h , ch 2 ), 0 . 89 ( t , 21h , ch 3 ) ppm . 13 c - nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 13 . 9 ( ch 3 ), 22 . 4 ( ch 2 ), 28 . 8 ( ch 2 ), 29 . 2 ( ch 2 ), 29 . 5 (( ch 2 ) n ), 31 . 7 ( ch 2 ), 33 . 4 ( ch 2 s ), 33 . 4 ( c - 6 ), 61 . 2 ( ch 2 oh ), 70 . 5 - 72 . 0 ( c - 2 , c - 3 , c - 5 ), 72 . 2 ( ch 2 o ), 81 . 0 ( c - 4 ), 100 . 7 ( c - 1 ) ppm . microanalysis : calculated for ( c 22 h 42 o 6 s ) 7 , c , 60 . 83 ; h , 9 . 68 ; s , 7 . 37 . found c , 60 . 12 ; h , 9 . 38 ; s , 7 . 62 %. electrospray ms : series of m / z from 2890 for deca ( ethylenoxy ) product to 3067 ( mna + ). this product was obtained from 600 mg of heptakis ( 6 - hexadecylthio )- β - cyclodextrin ( 213 mmol ), 60 mg of k 2 co 3 and 1 . 05 g of ethylene carbonate ( 56 eq .) in 6 ml of tetramethylurea as described for the synthesis of heptakis ( 2 , 3 - hydroxyethyl , 6 - thiododecyl )- β - cyclodextrin . the crude product was purified by crystallisation from 25 ml of methanol containing 20 % acetone and isolated in 71 % yield as brown - white powder . 1 h - nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 5 . 05 ( br , 7h , h - 1 ), 3 . 4 - 4 . 0 ( m , 84h , h - 2 , h - 3 , h - 4 , h - 5 and 14 × och 2 ch 2 o ), 3 . 00 ( m , 14h , h - 6 ), 2 . 60 ( m , 14h , sch2 ), 2 . 00 ( br , oh ) 1 . 57 ( m , 14h , ch2 ), 1 . 30 ( br s , 182h , ch 2 ), 0 . 88 ( t , 21h , ch 3 ) ppm . 13 c - nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 14 . 1 ( ch 3 ), 22 . 7 ( ch 2 ), 29 . 2 ( ch 2 ), 29 . 4 ( ch 2 ), 29 . 5 ( ch 2 ), 29 . 7 ( ch 2 ), 29 . 8 (( ch 2 ) n ), 32 . 0 ( ch 2 ), 33 . 7 ( ch 2 s ), 34 . 1 ( c - 6 ), 61 . 5 ( ch 2 oh ), 71 . 0 - 72 . 5 ( c - 2 , c - 3 , c - 5 ), 72 . 6 ( ch 2 o ), 81 . 2 ( c - 4 ), 100 . 9 ( c - 1 ) ppm . microanalysis : calculated for ( c 24 h 50 o 6 s ) 7 , c , 63 . 67 ; h , 10 . 20 ; s , 6 . 53 . found c , 62 . 90 ; h , 9 . 47 ; s , 6 . 77 %. electrospray ms : series of m / z from 3196 for octa ( ethylenoxy ) product to 3458 ( mna + ). the amphiphilic cyclodextrins are dispersed in water by sonication of a thin film ( cast by slow rotary evaporation of a solution of the cyclodextrins in chloroform ) in a sonication bath . he - sc 12 is sonicated for 2 hours at room temperature and he - sc 16 is sonicated for 2 hours at 50 ° c . dynamic light scattering indicates the presence of vesicles with an average diameter of 170 nm . vesicles of cyclodextrins of 50 - 300 nm diameter are also observed by transmission electron microscopy using uranyl acetate as a negative staining agent ( fig1 ). upon prolonged sonication ( 9 hours ) of a solution of he - sc 12 , a monodisperse solution of spherical vesicles with an average diameter of 60 nm is obtained ( fig2 ). thus , the particle size can be directed by sonication time , in order to obtain a size suitable for specific molecular inclusion or specific therapeutic use . heptakis ( 6 - hexadecylthio - 2 - oligoethylenoxy )- β - cyclodextrin was analysed using differential scanning calorimetry . the heating scan in differential scanning calorimetry ( dsc ) displayed a highly reproducible endothermic phase transition of a 10 % ( w / w ) dispersion in water . the transition occurred around 48 - 49 ° c . and the enthalpy of transition amounted to 59 kj / mol cyclodextrin . this typical l β - l □ transition was confirmed in a measurement of the fluorescence polarisation of diphenylhexatriene in the presence of a vesicle solution by a standard method ( r . r . c . new , liposomes : a practical approach , oxford university press , 1990 ). thus , vesicles of the amphiphilic cyclodextrins undergo thermotropic phase transitions which depend on molecular structure , and which can direct important parameters such as vesicle stability and bilayer permeability . vesicles of heptakis ( 6 - dodecylthio - 2 - oligoethylenoxy )- β - cyclodextrin and heptakis ( 6 - dodecylthio - 2 - oligoethylenoxy )- β - cyclodextrin were prepared by sonication in a buffered solution of carboxyfluorescein ( cf ). the entrapment of cf in the internal aqueous compartment of the cyclodextrin vesicles was confirmed as follows in two independent experiments , ( i ) and ( ii ); and in experiment ( iii ) the lifetime of entrapment was shown to be greater than three days . ( i ) small aliquots of the solutions of the cyclodextrin vesicles ( 5 - 20 mm ) were diluted 1000 - fold , resulting in immediate dilution of the non - entrapped cf with concomitant intense cf fluorescence , which was measured . the fluorescence of entrapped cf is negligible due to self - quenching . next , the vesicles in the diluted solution were solubilised by the addition of 0 . 1 % w / w of the detergent triton x - 100 , leading to release and dilution of entrapped cf , with concomitant increase of cf fluorescence , which was measured . in this concentration range ( ca . 20 mm ). the fluorescence intensity of cf correlates linearly with its concentration , and the incremental change of fluorescence upon addition of triton x - 100 is a direct measure of the percentage of entrapped volume of the vesicles relative to the total volume of the solution . the entrapped volume amounted to 7 . 7 +/− 1 . 9 % and 11 . 4 +/− 2 . 7 % for two independent preparations of he - sc 16 ; and to 5 . 0 +/− 2 . 4 % and 7 . 2 +/− 5 . 3 % for two independent preparations of he - sc 12 . ( ii ) cf entrapped in the vesicles was separated from free ( non - entrapped ) cf by gel filtration using sephadex g25 . independent turbidity measurements indicated that vesicles of he - sc 12 and of he - sc 16 elute much faster than free cf . the peak of entrapped cf coincided with the elution of vesicles ( fig4 ). this confirms the existence of an aqueous inner compartment within the vesicles . furthermore , as anticipated , the amount of entrapped cf in cyclodextrin vesicles correlated with the cyclodextrin concentration . ( iii ) the spontaneous release of cf from vesicles of he - sc 16 ( separated from free cf by gel filtration ) was measured over time . at room temperature , the leakage of cf was limited , and the vesicles retained more than 75 % of cf after 3 days ( fig5 ). these experiments demonstrate that the macrocyclic oligosaccharide vesicles can encapsulate and retain significant amounts of hydrophilic guest molecules in their compartment . encapsulation of a lipophilic ( water - insoluble ) azadipyrromethene in vesicles of he - sc 6 cyclodextrin solutions of azadipyrromethene ( fixed concentration ) and he - cd ( various concentrations ) were prepared as follows : for a solution containing 0 . 05 mg / ml he - cd , the he - cd ( 20 μl of a 25 mg / ml soln . in chloroform ), he - cd - f ( fluorescently labelled with methylanthranilate ) ( 10 μl of a 0 . 5 mg / ml soln . in chloroform ) and the azadipyrromethene ( 100 μl of a 20 mm soln . in methanol ) were combined in a small vial , and the solvents were evaporated in a stream of nitrogen . then hepes buffer ( 10 mm , 1 ml ) was added before sonication ( 1 h at 60 ° c .). fluorescence of the cyclodextrin and absorbance of the dissolved ( complexed ) azadipyrromethene were measured , and again after one week . table 1 below ( encapsulation of an azadipyrromethene in vesicles of he - sc 16 amphiphile ) shows that the lipophilic guest was efficiently dissolved in water by complexation with the vesicle bilayer and / or within the cyclodextrin molecular cavities . heptakis [ 6 - deoxy - 6 - hexylthio - 2 -( ω - iodo - oligoethylenoxy )]- β - cyclodextrin ( 620 mg , 0 . 19 mmol ) ( prepared by the method of mazzaglia et al ., eur . j . org . chem ., 2001 , 1715 - 1721 ) in anhydrous dimethylformamide ( 25 ml ) with sodium azide ( 625 mg , 9 . 5 mmol ) was stirred at 100 ° c . ( 6 days ). the reaction mixture was cooled , undissolved sodium azide was filtered off , and solvent was evaporated under vacuum . the organic residue was dissolved in chloroform and insoluble material was filtered off . evaporation of the chloroform gave crystalline product ( 300 mg , 60 % yield ). 1 h - nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 5 . 07 ( br , h - 1 ), 3 . 5 - 4 . 2 ( m , h - 2 , h - 3 , h - 5 , och 2 ), 3 . 2 - 3 . 5 ( m , h - 4 , ch □ n 3 ), 2 . 7 - 2 . 9 ( m , h - 6 ), 2 . 59 ( m , sch 2 ), 1 . 57 ( m , ch 2 ), 1 . 29 ( m , ch 2 ), 0 . 89 ( t , ch 3 ) ppm . 13 c - nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 14 . 1 ( ch 3 ), 22 . 6 ( ch 2 ), 28 . 7 ( ch 2 ), 29 . 7 ( ch 2 ), 31 . 6 ( ch 2 ), 33 . 8 ( ch 2 s , c - 6 ), 50 . 8 ( ch 2 n 3 ), 70 . 0 - 71 . 9 ( c - 3 , c - 5 , och 2 ), 80 . 9 ( c - 2 , c - 4 ), 101 . 2 ( c - 1 ) ppm . microanalysis : calculated for ( c 16 h 29 o 5 sn 3 ) 7 , c , 51 . 18 ; h , 7 . 78 ; n , 11 . 19 ; s , 8 . 54 . found , c , 50 . 07 ; h , 7 . 67 ; n , 10 . 14 ; s , 7 . 69 %. heptakis [ 2 -( ω - azido - oligoethylenoxy )- 6 - deoxy - 6 - hexylthio ]- β - cyclodextrin ( vacuum - dried ) in anhydrous dimethylformamide ( 20 ml ) with triphenylphosphine ( 1 . 4 g , 5 . 3 mmol ) was stirred under nitrogen at room temperature ( 5 h ). the reaction solution was then maintained at 50 ° c . during dropwise addition over 30 min of concentrated ammonium hydroxide solution ( 8 ml ). the reduction was complete after 24 h at 45 ° c . as judged by thin - layer chromatography ( silica , chcl 3 - meoh 5 : 1 ) which showed disappearance of starting compound . the reaction mixture was concentrated to a small volume under vacuum before precipitation of phosphorus compounds by addition of water ( 70 ml ) and filtration . the filtrate ph was adjusted to 2 by addition of hcl ( 1m ), and evaporation under vacuum gave crude product which was extracted with boiling hexane in a soxhlet extractor to remove remaining phosphorus compounds . yield of the polyamine hydrochloride salt was 385 mg ( 56 %). 1 h - nmr ( dmso - d 6 ): δ 8 . 2 ( br s , nh 3 ), 5 . 09 ( br , h - 1 ), 3 . 45 - 4 . 00 ( m , h - 2 , h - 3 , h - 5 , och 2 ), 3 . 36 ( m , h - 4 ), 2 . 98 ( m , h - 6 ), 2 . 58 ( m , sch 2 ), 1 . 55 ( m , ch 2 ), 1 . 25 - 1 . 32 ( m , ch 2 ), 0 . 85 ( t , ch 3 ) ppm . 13 c - nmr ( dmso - d 6 ) 14 . 1 ( ch 3 ), 22 . 9 ( ch 2 ), 28 . 9 ( ch 2 ), 29 . 6 ( ch 2 ), 31 . 3 ( ch 2 ), 33 . 7 ( c - 6 , sch 2 ), 39 . 9 ( ch 2 nh 3 ), 70 . 5 - 73 . 0 ( c - 3 , c - 5 , och 2 ), 80 . 1 ( c - 2 , c - 4 ), 101 . 7 ( c - 1 ) ppm . microanalysis : calculated for ( c 16 h 32 o 5 nscl ) 7 , c , 49 . 87 ; h , 8 . 36 ; n , 3 . 63 ; s , 8 . 31 , cl , 9 . 18 . found , c , 48 . 94 ; h , 7 . 58 ; n , 3 . 80 ; s , 8 . 03 , cl , 8 . 21 %. heptakis ( 6 - azido - 6 - deoxy )- β - cyclodextrin ( 2 g , 1 . 5 mmol ) ( prepared by the method of parrot - lopez et al ., j . am . chem . soc ., 1992 , 114 , 5479 - 5480 ) was dissolved in tetramethylurea ( 23 ml ) and potassium carbonate ( 0 . 2 g ) and ethylene carbonate ( 6 . 7 g , 76 mmol ) were added . the reaction mixture was heated to 150 ° c . ( 4 h ), at which time tlc analysis ( silica , chcl 3 - meoh 5 : 1 ) showed the reaction to be complete . solvent was evaporated under vacuum , the residue dried overnight under vacuum , and the product purified by size - exclusion chromatography ( sephadex lh - 20 , meoh ). 1 nmr ( dmso - d 6 ): δ 3 . 20 - 3 . 80 ( m , h - 2 , h - 3 , h - 4 , h - 5 , och2 ), 4 . 53 ( br , h - 1 ) ppm . maldi - ms : series of m / z from 1774 for deca ( ethylenoxy ) product to 1950 ( mna + ). heptakis ( 6 - azido - 6 - deoxy - 2 - oligoethylenoxy )- β - cyclodextrin ( 0 . 183 g , 0 . 01 mmol ) in methanol ( 10 ml ) with triphenylphosphine ( 0 . 56 g , 2 . 13 mmol ), was stirred at room temperature ( 2 h ). concentrated aqueous ammonia ( 40 ml ) was then added , and stirring continued ( 22 h ). the solution was evaporated under vacuum and the residue stirred with water ( 10 min ). after acidification to ph1 with hydrochloric acid ( 1 molar ) and filtration , the filtrate was evaporated under vacuum . the residue was stirred with hexane ( 10 ml ), filtered off , redissolved in water ( 50 ml ), concentrated under vacuum , and purified by size - exclusion chromatography ( sephadex g - 25 , water ). the reduction product , heptakis ( 6 - amino - 6 - deoxy - 2 - oligoethylenoxy )- β - cyclodextrin ( 180 mg , 0 . 08 mmol ) in dmf ( 10 - ml ) and n - ethylmorpholine ( 85 μl , 0 . 08 mmol ) was treated after 1 h with a solution of activated aminoacid prepared as follows : 12 ′- n - tert - butyloxycarbonylamino - dodecanoic acid ( 250 mg , 0 . 08 mmol ) in dry dmf ( 10 ml ) with dicyclohexylcarbodiimide ( 165 mg , 0 . 08 mmol ) and 4a molecular sieves , was stirred at 0 ° c . ( 1 h ) and then at room temperature ( 1 h ). the combined solutions were stirred at room temperature ( 4 days ), then filtered through celite 520 and evaporated under vacuum to a brown residue . this was dissolved in methanol and purified by size - exclusion chromatography ( sephadex lh - 20 , methanol ). the product was dissolved in methanol ( 10 ml ) and trifluoroacetic acid ( 2 ml ) was added before stirring at room temperature ( 1 h ). the solution was evaporated to yield the product as the trifluoroacetic acid salt . maldi - ms ( free amine ): series of m / z from 2805 for deca ( ethylenoxy ) product to 2981 ( mna + ). the amphiphilic cyclodextrin vesicles were formulated as follows : the cd was dissolved in chloroform ; solvent was removed by a stream of nitrogen to leave a film which was hydrated with doubly distilled deionised water . dna ( pcmvluc plasmid ) was encapsulated by either mixing a solution of dna with a quantity of preformed vesicles or by reconstitution of the dry cd film with a dna solution using the optimum mass ratio cd : dna of 10 : 1 , followed by sonication for size reduction . transfection studies were carried out in day1 cos - 7 cells . cd - dna complexes were added to the cells , at a dna dose of 1 □ g per well , for 4 hours in the presence of serum free opti - mem , after which time serum - containing medium was added and cells were cultured for a further 20 hours . media were replaced with fresh media and the cells were allowed express for a further 24 hours before the level of luciferase expression was determined using a promega luciferase assay kit and standardised for protein using the biorad dc protein assay kit . the results ( fig7 ) show that the cds cause a significant increase in transfection compared with uncomplexed dna , and can approach the commercial vector dotap in efficiency . the amphiphilic cds therefore can deliver a drug , dna for example , into biological cells . it is believed that one skilled in the art can , based on the description herein , utilise the present invention to its fullest extent . the above specific embodiments are , therefore , to be construed as merely illustrative , and not limitative of the remainder of the disclosure in any way whatsoever . unless defined otherwise , all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs .
soluble amphiphilic macrocycle analogues having lipophilic groups attached to one side of the units making up the macrocycle and hydrophilic groups attached to the other side . these amphiphilic macrocyclic derivatives have the ability to self - assemble in aqueous solvent forming micelles or vesicles and can be used as hosts for the solubilization and / or stabilization of various compounds . embodiments of the present invention utilize macrocyclic oligosaccharides and preferably cyclodextrin as the macrocyclic derivatives to be modified .