Amphiphilic polysaccharide based on curdlan: Synthesis and behaviour in aqueous solution

Amphiphilic polyelectrolyte based on curdlan derivative containing quaternary ammonium groups with a degree of substitution up to 0.4 was synthesized and characterized. The chemical structure of the amphiphilic curdlan derivative was confirmed by FTIR, ¹³C and ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The 2D NMR homo- and heteronuclear correlations were used to attribute the ambiguous 1D NMR signals from ¹H and ¹³C spectra. The hydrodynamic properties of this new derivative were studied by capillary viscometry. The non-linear Wolf equation was used to determine the intrinsic viscosity and the scaling theory was used to delimitate the concentration domains. The self-aggregation of the amphiphilic derivative was studied by fluorescence spectroscopy using pyrene and N-phenylnaphthylamine as micropolarity sensitive probes, and by surface tension measurements. The results obtained from the antibacterial and antifungal tests performed on E. coli, P. aeruginosa bacteria, and C. albicans fungi recommend this new amphiphilic derivative to be used either as a soluble biopolymer or as a precursor for the preparation of new biomaterials with antimicrobial properties.