Improvement purification of sulfated oligofucan by ion-exchange displacement centrifugal partition chromatography

Centrifugal partition chromatography in ion-exchange displacement mode was used to fractionate mixtures of sulfated oligofucans obtained by partial depolymerization of brown seaweed fucoidans. Diluted (10%, v/v) protonated LA2 (a lipophilic secondary amine) is used as a weak exchanger. In an attempt to improve this method, several solvents (methyl isobutyl ketone, methyl tert.-butyl ether, BuOH) were tested to dissolve LA2H(+). MtBE produced less bleeding than MiBK, whereas BuOH proved unsuitable. The sample injected needs to be highly diluted in water to ensure participation in the chromatographic process. A comparison of data (NMR, composition, molecular mass) indicated the homogeneity of the fractions obtained as well as the differences between them. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.