Cyclodextrins (CDs, Fig. 1) are cyclic oligosaccharides consisting of glucose subunits connected through glycosidic a-1,4 bond, forming a structure as a hollow truncate with one ring wider than the other.1) The most common CDs are a-, b-and g-CD, composed of six, seven and eight glucose units, respectively. Heptakis(2,6-di-O-methyl)-b-CD (DMb-CD) is a simple derivative of b-CD, in which all 2-and 6-OH groups of the seven glucose units are substituted by -OCH 3 groups. Many papers have been published concerning the formation and spectral properties of guest-CD complexes in aqueous solution using various analytical methods. [2][3][4][5][6] In solution, phenol and its simple analogs can be partly or wholly included into a CD cavity. 7) There have been a few structural studies on the inclusion complexes of CDs with phenol and substituted phenols based on experimental measurements or theoretical calculations. [8][9][10][11] Huang and his coworkers performed a detailed investigation on the conformation and stabilization energies of CD inclusion complexes of several substituted phenols, including 2-methylphenol, 2-ethylphenol and 2-isopropylphenol, using semiempirical molecular orbital method. 8) These authors pointed out that one of the principal driving forces for the formation of the inclusion complexes should be attributed to van der Waals interaction.Previous experimental studies showed that there were no enough strong interactions between a parent CD and phenol or its simple derivatives such as nitrophenol, methylphenol, aminophenol, halogenphenol and hydroxydiphenyl.12-14) However, it is found that eugenol (Eug), a phenol derivative with three substituents on benzene ring, while being accommodated into CD cavity, is able to form considerably stable inclusion complexes with three common parent CDs. 9) These results urge us to estimate the effects of the number of substituted groups (NSG) in guest and the molar volume ratio (MVR) of guest to the cavity of CD on the formation and stability of CD supramolecular complexes of phenol derivatives.Syringic acid (Syr) is usually used as sedative and local anaesthetic. 2-Methoxylphenol (2-Mop), with antitussive and expectorant effects, is widely used as a medicine for bronchitis. Eugenol is known to be an effective snake repellent. The three molecules are the important derivatives of phenol. Their structure features and molar volumes are displayed in Fig. 2.CDs are known to form inclusion complexes with a variety of organic guests.3,6) Introduction of CD into the pharmaceutical process can alter the solubility and stability of included medicines so as to be applied as drug carriers in some chemotherapy. In the present work, a-, b-and g-CD are selected as hosts to assess the influence of different sizes of CD cavities on the stability of the CD supramolecular complexes of Syr. In addition, in order to estimate the effects of NSG and MVR on the binding abilities of CDs in aqueous solution, a a-, b b-, g g-and heptakis(2,6-di-O-methyl)