SEPARATION OF FLUORESCENT OLIGOSACCHARIDE DERIVATIVES BY MICROCOLUMN TECHNIQUES BASED ON ELECTROPHORESIS AND LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

Various aldose oligosaccharides can be quantitatively derivatized into primary amines for subsequent reaction with fluorogenic reagents, such as 3-(4-carboxybenzoyl)-2-quinolinecarboxaldehyde or 3-benzoyl-2-naphthaldehyde. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) and microcolumn liquid chromatography (LC), coupled with laser-induced fluorescence detection, were evaluated as a means of separating complex oligosaccharide mixtures. Whereas microcolumn LC and open-tubular CE appear confined in their utility to relatively small oligosaccharides, unprecedented results were obtained with polyacrylamide gel-filled capillaries on hydrolyzed malto-oligosaccharides and enzymatically degraded samples of chondroitin sulfate and hyaluronic acid.