====== Iodine - Starch test ====== The //Iodine Starch test //was developed in 1814. The test involves using iodine and an iodide (usually potassium iodide) in solution. It can detect extremely low levers of starch - the starch granules turning an intense dark blue-black colour. It's a highly standardized test, and although in routine use for more than 200 years, the chemical mechanism of the reaction is still not known. A 2016 research project suggested that the test might have similarities with a compound known as the pyrroloperylene–iodine complex. >The crystal structure of the pyrroloperylene–iodine complex (with a formula close to pyrroloperylene–I2.2) has been solved. The structure contains infinite polyiodide chains, the Raman spectrum of which resembles that of the famous starch–iodine complex, thus casting light on a historical puzzle\\ \\ [[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201601585|Angewandte Chenie]] , Volume 55, Issue 28 //Note: //The test is also used in reverse, to detect low levels of iodine