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Molecular Weight Distribution Evaluation of Polysaccharides and Glycoconjugates Using Analytical Ultracentrifugation
Author(s) -
Harding Stephen E.,
Abdelhameed Ali Saber,
Morris Gordon A.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
macromolecular bioscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.924
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1616-5195
pISSN - 1616-5187
DOI - 10.1002/mabi.201000072
Subject(s) - sedimentation equilibrium , ultracentrifuge , glycoconjugate , chemistry , molar mass distribution , polymer , size exclusion chromatography , sedimentation , chromatography , polysaccharide , sedimentation coefficient , biochemistry , organic chemistry , biology , paleontology , sediment , enzyme
We review here the advances that have been made in methodology using the analytical ultracentrifuge for characterising polydisperse polymer systems with a quasi‐continuous distribution of molecular weight. These advances include improved ways of defining the weight and z‐average molecular weights of a distribution from sedimentation equilibrium experiments and hence the ratio $M_{{\rm z}} /M_{{\rm w}} $ , off‐line calibration of size exclusion chromatography by sedimentation equilibrium and conversion of a sedimentation coefficient distribution into a molecular weight distribution. Although these methods are applicable to other polymeric systems, we focus on polysaccharides, mucins and other glycoconjugates, systems which particularly benefit from the availability of recently available long optical path length cells for the minimisation of complications through thermodynamic non‐ideality.