Poly-l-aspartic acid (PLAsp), which consists of ca. 50 Asp
residues in a linear polypeptide, has been immobilized
on controlled pore glass (CPG) and evaluated for its selectivity
and binding strength in the complexation of metal ions
from aqueous solutions. The carboxylate side chain of Asp
(pK
a = 5.4 ± 0.2) is thought to be primarily responsible
for chelation of the target metals. Of the several metals
evaluated, Eu3+, Ce3+, La3+, Cu2+, and Pb2+ exhibited good
binding capacities. Quantitative determination of single-element capacities were determined for Cu2+ (12 ± 1 μmol/g
PLAsp-CPG) and La3+ (7.1 ± 0.3 μmol/g PLAsp-CPG).
Isotherms were constructed from breakthrough curves
using a flow injection system. These curves were used to
evaluate the effective site capacity and formation
constants. A combination of moderate and strong binding
sites for Pb2+ was detected, while moderate binding of
Cd2+ was observed with a minimal number of strong binding
sites. Several cations showed little to no binding by PLAsp-CPG (e.g., Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Mn2+, Co2+, and Ni2+).
Propensity for metal binding seems to follow the trend
seen for binding to carboxylates in such ligands as acetate.
The polydentate binding available from the polypeptide
chain significantly enhanced the binding strength with
equilibrium constants in excess of 108 observed for the
strong binding sites. The binding selectivity was complementary, in many cases, with the results previously reported
for poly-l-cysteine immobilized on CPG.