Analysis of Synthetic Oligomers and Polymers
New roles and applications in the areas of science & technology are continuously being found for synthetic polymers. As the applications of synthetic polymers increase, there is a need for methods to accurately, precisely characterize these materials.
sponsored by Tosoh
The utility of size exclusion chromatography (SEC or gel permeation chromatography, GPC) for synthesis monitoring and oligomeric analysis makes it an invaluable tool for characterizing synthetic polymeric material for use in medicine, as these materials require thorough characterization. The synthesis of two PEGylated synthetic polymers intended for use in medical applications was monitored and the oligomeric content was analyzed on an EcoSEC GPC System equipped with a column bank consisting of two 6.0 mm ID × 15 cm, 3 μm TSKgel® SuperH3000 columns.
The synthesis process was analyzed by comparing the SECchromatograms of the two PEGylated polymers with that of one of the starting materials. From this comparison it was concluded that starting material remained in one of the PEGylated samples, PEG-A, and was absent in the other PEGylated sample, PEG-B (Figure 1). The SEC chromatograms of the PEGylated polymers also provided indication of differences in the molar mass distribution between the two PEGylated samples. Additionally, based on the peak-average molar masses Mp the oligomeric content of the two PEGylated polymers were shown to differ, with PEG-A containing mainly oligomeric species and PEG-B containing both low- and high-molar mass species.
