Separation of dextrans by gel permeation chromatography

Abstract

AbstractThe role of the intrinsic viscosity [η] as separation parameter in gel permeation chromatography (GPC) was studied for dextrans (from Leuconostoc mesenteroids B512) dissolved in water with deactivated silicagel (Porasil) as the column‐filling material. For that purpose specific viscosities of dextran fractions eluted by GPC were measured as a function of the elution volume v. Provided that the elution volumes are corrected for zonal spreading, they are related to the intrinsic viscosities in an unambiguous way, probably reflecting a unique relationship between degree of branching and molecular weights. This was further investigated by developing an iteration method to prepare two calibration curves γ(v) and g(v), respectively, relating ln[\documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$\left[ {\bar \eta } \right]$\end {document}] and InM (M is the molecular weight) to v. It required that the weight‐average molecular weight Mw, the number‐average molecular weight Mn, and the average intrinsic viscosity [\documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$\left[ {\bar \eta } \right]$\end {document}] for a number of dextran samples (broad distributions) be previously known. The calibration curves found lead to consistent values of the above‐mentioned averages. Moreover, they allow‐establishment of the [\documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$\left[ {\bar \eta } \right]$\end {document}]‐M relationship over the range 5000 < M < 500,000.