Cyclodextrins are cyclic oligosaccharides consisting of (α-1,4)-linked α-D- glucopyranoside units. The natural α-, β- and γ-cyclodextrin (α-CD, β-CD and γ-CD) are formed by six, seven, and eight sugar residues, respectively. The employed Sugar Residues nomenclature is described in the Sugar Residues tab.

Each cyclodextrin will be referred as the corresponding sequence of sugar residues. For instance the sequence G00 G00 G00 G00 G00 G00 (see top left image) corresponds to the native α-CD. The substitution of a single sugar residue would provide a modified CD that is expected to be referred, for instance, as: G06 G00 G00 G00 G00 G00 (see top right image).