Molar mass or ‘molecular weight’ is one of the most fundamental parameters describing a macromolecule. Because of their polydisperse nature, polysaccharides are usually described by distributions of molar mass. SEC-MALS (size exclusion chromatography coupled to multi-angle light scattering) is often a convenient method of choice, but there are many instances where it is unsuitable. Modern AUC (analytical ultracentrifuge) methods provide a valuable alternative - now easier to use than before - and, after briefly reviewing some older procedures, we highlight two recently published and complementary methods, namely, the ‘Extended Fujita’ approach for the analysis of sedimentation velocity data and SEDFIT-MSTAR for the analysis of sedimentation equilibrium data. Nonideality needs to be considered and can be dealt with in a standard way. These methods can also indicate if associative phenomena are present, which can then be quantified using more complex AUC algorithms.
CITATION STYLE
Harding, S. E., Adams, G. G., Gillis, R. B., Almutairi, F. M., & Morris, G. A. (2016). Aspects of the analytical ultracentrifuge determination of the molar mass distribution of polysaccharides. In Analytical Ultracentrifugation: Instrumentation, Software, and Applications (pp. 375–386). Springer Japan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55985-6_18
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