Two‐Dimensional Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Studies of Starch and Starch Products

Abstract The use of two‐dimensional Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy as applied to studies of starch, starch products and glycogen is reported. The use of both homonuclear correlation (COSY, relay‐COSY and HOHAHA) and heteronuclear correlation (HMQC, HETCOR) experiments is discussed. This approach makes it possible to obtain complete assignments of the proton NMR spectra of these polysaccharides. This is not possible from 1‐D spectra due to excessive overlap of the non‐anomeric proton signals. The resulting assignments are useful in obtaining structural information regarding starch and related products. Moreover, the greater inherent resolution of the two‐dimensional spectra can reveal the presence of low molecular weight carbohydrates (glucose, maltose etc.) in dextrin samples, thus providing information about carbohydrate composition.