[Preparation of highly hydrophilic strong cation exchangers and their applications in protein analysis]

Based on the needs of new packing materials for rapid and efficient separation, purification and analysis of biomacromolecules, a novel sulfonic acid-type strong cation exchange resin (SP-G-PGMA SCX resin) was prepared. The porous poly(glycidyl methacrylate) microspheres (PGMA) were selected as the matrix and glucose was used as the hydrophilic modifier to block the hydrophobic domains of PGMA beads. Glucose modification on PGMA beads improved the biocompatibility and reduced the non-specific adsorption so as to increase the recoveries of protein. The PGMA beads possess the porous structure and the relatively high specific surface area, which make the PGMA-based resins good permeability and high loading capacity. The application of such SP-G-PGMA SCX resin for the chromatographic separation of biomacromolecules was explored. Four basic proteins were baseline separated within 6 min with the column size of 100 mm x 4.6 mm. The adsorption capacity of lysozyme on SP-G-PGMA SCX resin was determined as 39.5 g/L. The results make the material promising for the separation and purification of biomacromolecules.