Complexes of amylose and amylopectins with multivalent metal salts.

Metal cations [Cu(II), Fe(III), Mn(II), and Ni(II)] are ligated by amylose as well as potato, and corn amylopectins as proven by electron paramagnetic resonance spectra and conductivity measurements. The hydroxyl groups of polysaccharides are the coordination sites. Isolated starch polysaccharides did not coordinate to metal ions so well as starch did. The resulting polycenter Werner complexes were mainly square planar species. The ligation of the central metal atoms resulted in a variation of the thermal stability, pathway, and rate of thermal decomposition of starch as proven by thermogravimetric (TG, DTG) and scanning differential calorimetric measurements. Frequently, amylose and potato amylopectin willingly formed clathrates in which the water molecules were caged. The mode of the coordination of the hydroxyl groups to the central metal atom controlled the clathrate formation from amylose and in the case of potato amylopectin metal atoms bound to the phosphoric acid moiety formed cage by coordination of the hydroxyl groups to them. Coordination to selected metal salts controls pathway and products of polysaccharide ligand thermolysis.