Carbohydrates band shifts

The Fourier Trairsform Infrared (FTIR) spectrum obtained from non-adapted tomato cell walls is very similar to that from the onion parenchyma cell wall (both contain cellulose, xyloglucan and pectin) although there is more protein in the tomato walls (amide stretches at 1550 and 1650 cm-i) (Fig 4). In DCB-adapted tomato cell walls, the spectrum more closely resembles that of either purified pectins or of a commercial polygalacturonic acid sample from Sigma with peaks in common at 1140, 1095, 1070, 1015 and 950 cm-t in the carbohydrate region of the spectrum as well as the free acid stretches at 1600 and 1414 cm-i and an ester peak at 1725 cm-k An ester band at 1740 cm-i is evident in both onion parenchyma and non-adapted tomato cell wall samples. It is possible that this shift in the ester peak simply reflects the different local molecular environment of this bond, but it is also possible that a different ester is made in the DCB-adapted cell walls, as phenolic esters absorb around 1720 cm-i whilst carboxylic esters absorb at 1740 cm-k The... 

Crystalline samples sometimes produce spectra with distorted band shapes, an effect known as the Christiansen effect [see Potts (1963) and Table 1.4]. Also, polymorphic forms of the same substance frequently show differences in infrared spectra. An example is N-benzoyl-2,3,4,6-tetra-0-benzoyl- -D-glucosylamine, a compound that exists in a form with melting point 113-115°C which, when heated to 117-120°C and allowed to crystallize from the melt, gives a form with melting point 184°C having a somewhat different spectrum in Nujol (Tipson, 1968). Also, different crystal habits (same melting point) of a compound may display partially differing spectra, especially if examined as mulls, in which little pressure is applied. Shifts of up to 20 cm" for certain bands have been observed (Barker et al., 1956) for crystalline and amorphous forms of some carbohydrates. In all such instances, however, spectra of samples of each of the forms, recorded after dissolution in the same solvent, or as a molten substance, are identical. 

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