We investigated the complex formation between various underivatized carbohydrates and the binuclear copper(II) complex 1, Cu(2)(bpdpo). A combined approach of UV/vis and CD spectroscopic investigations shows a large discrimination ability of 1 for structurally closely related monosaccharides in alkaline solution. The dominating form of the binuclear copper(II) complex consists of a [Cu(2)L(-)(H)(OH)(2)](+) species between pH 11 and 13, as determined from pH-dependent spectrophotometric titration experiments. The binding strengths of the 1:1 sugar-1 complexes, derived from the biologically important monosaccharides d-mannose (3) and d-glucose (5), is about 1.5 orders of magnitude different at pH 12.40. Moreover, a blue- or a red-shift of the absorption maximum of 1 accompanies the sugar binding and highlights the ability of 1 to discriminate carbohydrates. This phenomenon is due to the number of hydroxyl groups of the particular monosaccharide involved in chelation to the binuclear metal complex.

A dormant macromolecular catalyst was prepared by polymerization of an aqueous styrene-butyl acrylate miniemulsion in the presence of a new polymerizable pentadentate ligand. The catalyst was activated by binding Cu(II) ions to the ligand site and then explored for its ability to hydrolyze glycosidic bonds in alkaline solution. The performance was correlated to the catalytic activity shown by low molecular weight analogs. A turnover rate of up to 43 × 10(-4) min(-1) was previously observed for cleavage of the glycosidic bond in selected p-nitrophenylglycosides with a binuclear, low molecular weight catalyst; by contrast, the same reaction is more than 1 order of magnitude faster and has a turnover rate of up to 380 × 10(-4) min(-1) when using the prepared macromolecular catalyst. The catalyzed hydrolysis is about 10(5)-fold accelerated over the uncatalyzed background reaction under the provided conditions, while a significant discrimination of the α- and β-glycosidic bond or of the galacto- and gluco-configuration in the sugar moiety in the glycoside substrates is not observed.

We proposed a decisive role of the number of metal ions at the sugar binding site for carbohydrate-coordinating copper(II) complexes. To verify this hypothesis, we studied the binding of the representatively chosen carbohydrates D-ribose (7), D-mannose (8), D-glucose (9), and D-maltose (10) to structurally related mono- and dinuclear copper(II) complexes in alkaline solution. All carbohydrates coordinate to the metal complexes in a 1:1 molar ratio. Coordination of 7 or 8 to the dinuclear copper(II) complex 1 is about 0.5 order of magnitude stronger than the complex formation with related mononuclear complexes. On contrast, 9, which is an epimer of 8, coordinates stronger to either one of the mononuclear copper(II) complexes in alkaline aqueous solution.