SPECTROSCOPIC ORIGIN OF CONFORMATION-SENSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS TO POLYSACCHARIDE OPTICAL-ACTIVITY - VACUUM ULTRAVIOLET CIRCULAR-DICHROISM OF AGAROSE

The vacuum‐uv CD of agarose solid films has been measured to 145 nm and shows a positive band near 180 nm and a larger negative band at around 152 nm. The positive band remains accessible in aqueous solution and has been used to characterize changes in molecular conformation and interaction during the sol–gel transition. The temperature profile of vacuum‐uv CD shows sharp, discontinuous changes around the melting and setting points of the gel, which are interpreted in terms of cooperative intermolecular association through double helices, and pronounced hysteresis, which is discussed in terms of helix–helix aggregation. Copyright © 1979 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.