Gel Permeation Chromatography of Polysaccharides Using Universal Calibration

Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) has been utilized to characterize a number of representative polysaccharides (i.e., dextrans, pullulans, celluloses, arabinogalactans, amyloses, and amylopectins). N.N-dimethylacetamide with lithium chloride, the solvent of choice for high-molecular weight cellulose analysis, readily dissolved all samples and was also used as the mobile phase. GPC allows calculation and comparison of molecular weight averages and distribution, branching and intrinsic viscosity. The concept of universal calibration, which takes into account the hydrodynamic volume of the molecule, was successfully applied to this set of analyses.