Studies on the formation of metal-polysaccharide complexes in the cellulose solvents cuoxen and cadoxen

Abstract Metal ion binding by polysaccharides in cuoxen‐(CED) and cadoxen‐solutions has been studied by dialysis techniques. The polysaccharides used in these studies were cellulose and dextran. In the case of CED it was found that strong copper‐polysaccharide complexes are formed. In cadoxen the binding of cadmium was found to occur to a much lesser extent and was of the same order of magnitude as metal ion binding in alkali solutions. It was concluded that in this case probably only slight complex formation occurs and that the binding of cations is essentially due to an acid‐base reaction between the polysaccharide and cadoxen.