Polysaccharide-polyelectrolyte complexes in organic solvent systems

Abstract

Dissociation of the following polysaccharide-gelatin complexes was accomplished by 44% phenol/water partitioning: lichenan, glycogen phosphate, dextran phosphate, dextran sulfate, and gum arabic. Both polygalacturonic acid and gum karaya formed 44% phenol/water insoluble complexes with gelatin. Specific polysaccharides and polysaccharide-gelatin mixtures formed interface layers in the phenol-water solvent system. Fucan, heparin, chondroitin sulfate, and dextran sulfate interacted with glycogen to form complexes which were soluble in 0.83% trichloroacetic acid (TCA)-79% ethanol. Heparin, fucan, dextran sulfate, and polygalacturonic acid precipitated with gelatin to form 5% TCA insoluble complexes whereas hyaluronic acid-gelatin complexes were soluble in 0.83% TCA-79% ethanol. The presence of 0.009 M NaCl induced the precipitation of anionic polysaccharide-glycogen complexes into the 0.83% TCA-79% ethanol insoluble fraction. TCA-ethanol partitioning of tertiary solute systems revealed that fucan and dextran sulfate competitively bound gelatin in the presence of glycogen. In contrast, gelatin was capable of solubilizing both glycogen and hyaluronic acid in this tertiary solvent system. The 0.83% TCA79% ethanol soluble complexes of glycogen-gelatin and glycogen phosphate-gelatin were dissociated by 3.0 M guanidine hydrochloride whereas 4.0 M tetramethylguanidine only partially dissociated these complexes.