A method has been developed to determine the distribution of substituents i
n the glucose units of sulfonylbutylethers of cyclomaltoheptaose (beta-cycl
odextrin). This method involves hydrolysis of the glucosidic linkages, perm
ethylation, formation of sulfonylchlorides and subsequent transformation to
the permethylated sulfonylfluoride derivatives. The latter were thermostab
le and could be analyzed by GLC and identified by EI and CIMS. For confirma
tion, the 2-, 3-, and 6-O-substituted standard compounds were independently
synthesized and characterized by NMR and GLC-MS. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science
Ltd. All rights reserved.