Featured Molecules: Amylose and Polystyrene

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William F. Coleman

Featured Molecules: Amylose and Polystyrene

Wellesley College Wellesley, MA 02481

Edward W. Fedosky University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI 53715

November Featured Molecules The WebWare molecules of the month are amylose and polystyrene, which are examined in JCE Classroom Activity #57: “Pondering Packing Peanut Polymers”, found on pages 1288A–1288B. In the activity, students investigate polymers and their chemical composition. The structures below show several repeating units of the two polymers. The helical,

50-unit amylose shows the structure that complexes with iodine to produce the blue charge-transfer complex in the starch–iodide test. Fully manipulable (Chime) versions of these and other molecules are available at the Only@JCE Online Web site: http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/JCEWWW/Features/WebWare/ MonthlyMolecules/2003/Nov/.

amylose (10 units) polystyrene (12 units)

amylose (50 units)

amylose (50 units) polystyrene (12 units)

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Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 80 No. 11 November 2003 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu