New Procedure To Calculate All Equilibrium Constants in Flavylium Compounds: Application to the Copigmentation of Anthocyanins.

ABSTRACT

A new experimental procedure to calculate all equilibrium constants of the multistate of species of anthocyanins and related compounds, including those in basic medium, is reported. The procedure is based on a series of pH jumps monitored by stopped flow from an extended pH range of solutions at pseudo-equilibrium (when there is no significant formation of trans-chalcones) or at equilibrium to pH = 1.0. The experimental procedure is described for the anthocyanin model compound 4'-hydroxyflavylium, which exhibits a peculiar behavior in moderately acidic medium, because the quinoidal base, hemiketal, and cis-chalcone have similar mole fractions at pseudo-equilibrium, permitting good discrimination among these species. The experimental procedure can be extended to the copigmentation phenomenon and allow the calculation of the 11 copigmentation constants of the flavylium cation, quinoidal base, hemiketal, and cis- and trans-chalcones (this last from the equilibrium) and their respective ionized forms. The method was applied to calculate the copigmentation constants of the model compound 4'-hydroxyflavylium as well as malvidin-3-glucoside with caffeine. In the last compound, the strongest interaction takes place with the quinoidal base (K = 303 M-1) and flavylium cation (K = 134 M-1) and, to a lesser extent, with the ionized quinoidal base (K = 43 M-1) and cis-chalcone (K = 17 M-1). The caffeine interaction with the hemiketal and the other ionized species is negligible.