High-performance gel permeation chromatography of water-soluble cellulosics

Combination of enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol organosolv pretreatments: effect on lignin structures, delignification yields and cellulose-to-glucose conversion

Enzymatic pre-hydrolysis using the industrial enzymatic cocktail Cellulyve® was assessed as a first step in a pretreatment process of Miscanthus biomass involving an aqueous-ethanol organosolv treatment. (13)C and (31)P Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and size exclusion chromatography were used to analyze the cellulose and lignin before and after treatment. It was demonstrated that despite a very low impact on the fibre structure (observed by Scanning Electron Microscopy) and composition (in terms of sugars and polyphenolics content), the enzymatic pre-treatment disrupted the lignocellulosic matrix to a considerable extend. This weakening permitted enhanced removal of lignin during organosolv pulping and increased hydrolysability of the residual cellulosic pulp for the production of monomeric glucose. Using this combined treatment, a delignification yield of 93% and an enzymatic cellulose-to-glucose conversion of 75% were obtained.

Sintered octadecylsilica as monolithic column packing in capillary electrochromatography and micro high-performance liquid chromatography

Fused-silica capillaries were packed with porous 6-microns octadecylated silica microspheres and subjected to thermal treatment in order to obtain a column with porous silica based monolithic packing. After sintering, the monolithic packing was reoctadecylated in situ with dimethyloctadecylchlorosilane. The mechanical strength and stability of the monolithic column were significantly greater than those of conventional columns packed with particulate stationary phase. The performance of the columns was evaluated in both mu-HPLC and capillary electrochromatography (CEC) of small aromatic compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with 10 mM borate, pH 8.0, in acetonitrile-water mixtures as the mobile phase. Since no untoward bubble formation was observed, CEC could be performed in a CZE unit without the need for pressurizing the monolithic column. The plate efficiency of the monolithic column was similar to that of columns freshly packed with the same particles and was always higher in the CEC than in the mu-HPLC under otherwise identical conditions. The electrosmotic flow (EOF) velocity increased with the acetonitrile content of the eluent in open fused-silica capillaries with octadecylated innerwall and in columns packed with sintered octadecylsilica. In contradistinction, the EOF velocity decreased with the organic strength of the eluent in raw fused-silica capillaries. The opposite trend is attributed to the different effect of changing organic modifier concentration on the accessibility of silanol groups at the raw and octadecylated silica surfaces.

Extracellular mammalian polysaccharides: glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans

This review of the mammalian extracellular matrix polysaccharides covered the glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and their association into proteoglycans. As they necessarily pertain to the chromatographic and electrophoretic separations of these molecules, the structural features of the five principal GAGs were briefly reviewed. Much of the current structural work as well as the separation technology has been concerned with the sulfation state and copolymeric sequences of the individual classes of GAGs. The separation methods discussed included electrophoresis by agarose, acrylamide and cellulose acetate, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ion-exchange, gel permeation and biospecific affinity methods. Since detection systems are an integral part of chemical separation technology, current thoughts about the best methods to assay GAGs or detect column fractions were discussed. These included polysaccharide-specific detection systems such as Alcian blue dye, 1,9-dimethylmethylene blue, bovine serum albumin-Coomassie blue, as well as non-specific carbohydrate detection systems such as the carbazole or indole hydrochloride methods. Instrumentation used in the detection of chromatography fractions for these molecules was discussed, since the usual ultraviolet detector, standard with HPLC equipment, is often unsatisfactory. The most sensitive specific detection method for GAGs is the use of monoclonal antibodies, which are only now becoming commercially available. The use of these antibodies, combined with HPLC separation, appears to be the best available biochemical technology for studying the extracellular matrix polysaccharides. Finally, the association between proteoglycans, GAGs and mammalian disease processes was reviewed, emphasizing mucopolysaccharidoses and arthritis. The early detection of both of these diseases is desired for effective counselling and treatment. Many of the methods discussed here have been applied, but others are yet to be tried in efforts to further that goal.