Chirality anomalies of water solutions of saccharides

Anomalies in temperature dependence (TD) for optical activity of water solutions for glucose, saccharose and dextran have been studied in temperature range of 2 °C to 40 °C. Abnormal fluctuations of specific rotatory power in solutions of sugars below 15 °C have been discovered. Arrhenius approximation of TDs for chirality of solutions of sugars and a number of terpenes were applied to determine their activation energy to be in the range of 0.15 kJ/mol to 1.2 kJ/mol. These values were found to be identical to energies of free molecular rotation. It has been shown by comparative analysis of TDs for water physical properties and those of chirality of solutions of sugars and terpenes that the dynamics and kinetics of anomalies and fluctuations of chirality in water solutions of sugars are limited by abnormal thermodynamics of water. Reforming of water cluster structures has been associated with curving of TDs for chirality of sugars in temperature range of 20 °C to 25 °C. Interaction and incorporation of sugar molecules in clusters and supramolecular structures of water contribute to their stability and increase in lifetime.