PRELIMINARY-REPORT ON FRACTIONATION OF FUCANS BY ION-EXCHANGE DISPLACEMENT CENTRIFUGAL PARTITION CHROMATOGRAPHY

A new method combining ion-exchange displacement chromatography with c entrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) was used for the fractionati on of partially depolymerized fucans (polysulphated polysaccharides). The ion-exchanger was Amberlite LA2, a high-molecular-mass liquid seco ndary amine miscible with most common organic solvents and immiscible with aqueous solutions. Ion-exchange displacement centrifugal partitio n chromatography was performed with LA2 in methyl isobutyl ketone (MiB K) as the stationary phase, water as the mobile phase, Cl- as the carr ier and OH- as the displacer. A complex mixture of partially depolymer ized fucans was resolved into adjacent families characterized by their peak molecular mass and polydispersity. The Dubois test (sugar) and t he azur A test (SO3-) confirmed the displacement mode of the process, and size-exclusion chromatographic controls confirmed its efficiency. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.