SIZE-EXCLUSION CHROMATOGRAPHY OF CELLULOSE AND CHITIN USING LITHIUM CHLORIDE-N,N-DIMETHYLACETAMIDE AS A MOBILE PHASE

Distributions of molecular mass of cellulose and chitin were determined by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) using 5% (w/w) lithium chloride-N,N-dimethylacetamide as an eluent. The peak positions in SEC patterns of the cellulose samples used corresponded well to their molecular masses, which were measured by a viscometric method using cupriethylenediamine. Thus, the packed gel consisting of styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer was found to be applicable to the SEC analysis of cellulose and chitin, when 5% (w/w) lithium chloride-N,N-dimethylacetamide was used as the solvent for polysaccharides and as the eluent. The elution patterns obtained in this SEC system indicated that the molecular mass of commercial chitins prepared from crab shell is much higher than that of cotton, and that the chitins have two peaks of distribution of molecular mass.