High-pressure liquid chromatography of neutral oligosaccharides: effects of structural parameters

Sixty-five neutral oligosaccharides were analyzed by high-pressure liquid chromatography on an amine-modified silica column (Lichrosorb-NH2). By systematic comparison of the retention times, it was possible to attribute chromatographic behavior to specific structural features. It appeared that retention times increase with the number of sugar residues. The presence of a fucose or an N-acetylglucosamine residue results in a decreased retention time, in particular when the latter sugar is at the reducing end. A dramatic increase in retention time is shown by oligosaccharides having a 1----6 linkage, regardless of whether this linkage is involved in a branch. Less important features are the nature of the component sugars other than N-acetylglucosamine and fucose, the anomeric configuration of the sugars, and the presence of a reduced terminal sugar.