Solvent-dependent conformation of amylose tris(phenylcarbamate) as deduced from scattering and viscosity data.

The z-average mean-square radius of gyration S(2)(z), the particle scattering function P(k), the second virial coefficient, and the intrinsic viscosity [eta] have been determined for amylose tris(phenylcarbamate) (ATPC) in methyl acetate (MEA) at 25 degrees C, in ethyl acetate (EA) at 33 degrees C, and in 4-methyl-2-pentanone (MIBK) at 25 degrees C by light and small-angle X-ray scattering and viscometry as functions of the weight-average molecular weight in a range from 2 x 10(4) to 3 x 10(6). The first two solvents attain the theta state, whereas the last one is a good solvent for the amylose derivative. Analysis of the S(2)(z), P(k), and [eta] data based on the wormlike chain yields h (the contour length or helix pitch per repeating unit) = 0.37 +/- 0.02 and lambda(-1) (the Kuhn segment length) = 15 +/- 2 nm in MEA, h = 0.39 +/- 0.02 and lambda(-1) = 17 +/- 2 nm in EA, and h = 0.42 +/- 0.02 nm and lambda(-1) = 24 +/- 2 nm in MIBK. These h values, comparable with the helix pitches (0.37-0.40 nm) per residue of amylose triesters in the crystalline state, are somewhat larger than the previously determined h of 0.33 +/- 0.02 nm for ATPC in 1,4-dioxane and 2-ethoxyethanol, in which intramolecular hydrogen bonds are formed between the C==O and NH groups of the neighbor repeating units. The slightly extended helices of ATPC in the ketone and ester solvents are most likely due to the replacement of those hydrogen bonds by intermolecular hydrogen bonds between the NH groups of the polymer and the carbonyl groups of the solvent.