ANALYSIS OF NEUTRAL AND SIALYLATED N-LINKED OLIGOSACCHARIDES BY MICELLAR ELECTROKINETIC CAPILLARY CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH ADDITION OF A DIVALENT-CATION

Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MECC) has been inves tigated as an alternative mode of analyzing oligosaccharides released from glycoproteins. The influence on the separation of experimental pa rameters such as the concentrations of surfactant and electrolyte and the addition of divalent cations was examined. Solubilization of neutr al oligosaccharides by micelles was demonstrated whereas for the sialy lated oligosaccharides the electrophoretic mobility remained the predo minant factor. The addition of Mg++ to sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) so lutions provided an effective means of enhancing the selectivity of th e separation through both an increase of the time window and the diffe rential complexation of carbohydrate with this divalent cation.