An inorganic starch-iodine model: the inorganic-organic hybrid compound {(C4H12N2)(2)[(CuI4)-I-I](I-2)}(n)

The dark-blue crystal color of {(C4H12N2)(2)[(CuI4)-I-I](I-2)}(n), its mixture of I-, I-3(-) and linear I-4(2-) or linear I-5(-) polyiodide species in a linear channel arrangement, its channel diameter of similar to 5.5 angstrom and the helical arrangement of the hydrogen bonded {(C4H12N2)(2)[(CuI4)-I-I]}(+) supramolecular host around the channels agree with the description of the classical, yet structurally elusive, starch-iodine compound.