New cationic hydrophilic and amphiphilic polysaccharides synthesized by one pot procedure

Synthesis of cationic polysaccharides carrying quaternary ammonium groups of various chemical structures was performed by one pot procedure involving the chemical modification of a neutral polysaccharide (dextran, pullulan) with an equimolar mixture epichlorohydrin/tertiary amine, in aqueous media. Study of the reaction mechanism showed that the quaternization reagent was the glycidyl derivative of the tertiary amine formed in situ. Formation of cationic polysaccharides and their chemical structure were confirmed by elemental analysis, potentiometric titration, FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy. The reaction efficiency of the one pot procedure was similar to other methods using preformed clorohydroxypropyl or glycidyl quaternary ammonium reagents, but gave better results for the introduction of quaternary ammonium groups with more hydrophobic substituents. The procedure allowed the synthesis of a large variety of hydrophilic and amphiphilic cationic polysaccharides with potential application as hipolipemic drugs, flocculants or antibacterial agents.