Electron paramagnetic resonance study of hydrogen peroxide/ascorbic acid ratio as initiator redox pair in the inulin-gallic acid molecular grafting reaction

Gallic acid (GA) was grafted onto inulin using the free radicals method, generated by the hydrogen peroxide/ascorbic acid (H2O2/AA) redox pair. Molar ratios of H2O2/AA at 9, 20, 39 and 49 were evaluated by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance in order to find the effect of the oxidation of the inulin and the efficiency in the inulin-gallic acid grafting (IGA). The highest concentration of the inulin macro-radical was obtained with H2O2/AA molar ratios of 20 and 49 with the removal of a hydrogen atom from a methyl group of the inulin fructose monomers. The highest grafting ratio (30.4 mg GA eq/g IGA) was obtained at 9 M of H2O2/AA. UV-Vis, FT-IR-ATR and XDR results confirmed a successful IGA grafting. The efficiency of the grafting reaction depends on the concentration of the macro-radical, it depends on the molar ratio of H2O2/AA, being affected by simultaneous reactions between components of the mixture (H2O2, AA, inulin, GA and eventually atmospheric oxygen) as well.