Acetylated gum Arabic (AGA) derivatives with different degrees of substitution (DS 0.97-2.74) were synthesized using acetyl chloride and a base under varying reaction conditions. The AGA derivatives were obtained in the form of microspheres and thereafter stable iodine products were prepared by doping the microspheres with an iodinating agent, iodine monochloride (ICl). The reaction between electrophilic iodine and polar carbonyl groups was studied by FT-IR, (1)H-NMR, and UV-VIS spectroscopies. The products were also characterized by DSC, TGA and SEM studies. The incorporated iodine was released in aqueous medium as iodide ions (I(-)). A reaction scheme has been proposed for the iodination and de-iodination of the gum derivatives. This work suggests that the iodine derivatives of modified gum Arabic could be used as a source of iodide ions which is the nutritional form of iodine.
