Vacuum ultraviolet circular dichroism of gellan-family polymer films from water and dimethyl sulfoxide

The denaturing effect of dimethyl sulfoxide (Me2SO) on the conformation of the gellan-welan-rhamsan family of microbial polysaccharides is directly demonstrated by circular dichroism (CD). The three polysaccharides display strikingly similar CD spectra (140–210 nm) for films cast from Me2SO. The disrupting effect of Me2SO on gellan and welan conformations has previously been reported by others on the basis of light-scattering and viscosity studies. Films cast from aqueous solutions at room temperature show more-intense CD bands, both at 182 nm, as is also observed for aqueous solutions, and in the 150–175 nm region. These features correspond to the ordered helical chains found by X-ray diffraction studies of similarly prepared films.