Table 2.

Experimental binding free energies of benzimidazole and its derivatives upon complexation with CB7.¹ $\Delta {\mathit{G}}_{\mathrm{ref},\exp }^{\mathit{unprot}}$ refers to the unprotonated binding free energy while $\Delta {\mathit{G}}_{\mathit{exp}}^{\mathit{prot}+}$ was calculated based on equation (3) for the protonated ligands at pH 7.0

Ligand	$\Delta {\mathit{G}}_{ref,exp}^{unprot}$	$\Delta {\mathit{G}}_{exp}^{prot+}(\mathit{pH}7)$
BZ	−4.4	−7.1
ABZ	−6.6	−6.7
CBZ	−6.0	−6.4
FBZ	−2.3	−4.5
TBZ	−3.0	−5.2