Hydrogen bonding in amylose/DMSO complexes studied by vibrational spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations

The intermolecular interactions in amylose/dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) complexes are discussed both experimentally and theoretically by means of Raman and infrared spectroscopies. The study is based on a preliminary analysis of well known systems such as pure liquid DMSO or DMSO in mixture with water: for such systems, an analysis of the CS stretching region is carried out both by means of Raman and infrared spectra. In particular, Raman spectra reveal a high sensitivity to the strength and to the type of interaction involving the DMSO molecules. These results, applied to the investigation of amylose-DMSO complexes, show the presence of different hydrogen-bonded complexes which coexist in this compound. In particular, DMSO molecules are identified both on the external surface of the V-amylose helix, where they can interact via one hydrogen bond and in the inner channel of the helix where they can interact via two hydrogen bonds. The present findings open the possibility of applying vibrational spectroscopy to the characterization of inclusion compounds of amylose which are currently being involved in many fields of nanosciences. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.