Vibrational dynamics of water molecules confined within trehalose H-bond imposed networks: A Raman response

This paper reports the results of a comparative study on the structural properties of water confined within a disaccharide network of homologous disaccharides (trehalose, maltose and sucrose). The findings, obtained by Raman scattering evidence the key role played by disaccharide-water interaction by H-bond. From the whole results we show that the greater cryoprotective behavior of trehalose can be attributed to its higher destructuring power on the tetrahedral hydrogen-bond network of water and hence, in its major effectiveness to reduce the amount of freezable water.