EPR studies on aqueous sucrose solutions using (Cu(H2O)6)2+spin probe

EPR investigations using Cu2+ ion as a probe have been performed on supersaturated sucrose solution with percent concentration c = 66 as a function of temperature T, and at room temperature as a function of c. The motionally averaged spectrum of [Cu(H2O)6]2+ was used to monitor the changes in intermolecular interactions that occur as a function of [c, T]. A drastic increase in the line width, symptomatic of increase in the rotational correlation time of [Cu(H2O)6]2+, is observed between 293 and 288 K. The motionally averaged spectrum disappears below 281 K. The motionally averaged spectrum is also absent in the room temperature spectra of the solution with c= 85. Even in the [c, T] range where [Cu(H2O)6]2 is found to be nearly static, these molecules appear to have an orientational fluctuation manifesting in the m 1 dependence of the line width of the parallel component.