DOES AGGREGATION MODULATE THE APPARENT ASSOCIATION CONSTANT OF HOST-GUEST COMPLEXES AND RELATED SPECIES

The present paper illustrates the consequences of aggregation phenomen a on the apparent association constant of a host-guest system in three different cases. In the first, the guest gives aggregates whereas in the second the host exhibits aggregation while maintaining a constant affinity for the guest. In the last case under examination, it is the host-guest species that is assumed to aggregate. Numerical simulations based on widely used experimental protocols emphasized the significan ce of aggregation phenomena on apparent association constants under a broad range of circumstances. The possible relevance of the present an alysis to real systems is discussed.