Analysis of heparin and chondroitin sulfates by the method of IR spectroscopy in solutions of D2O

Infrared spectroscopy of heparins suggests that the region 750-950 cm-1 is sensitive to changes in iduronate residue ring conformation

“…Despite these advantages, and although there have been numerous studies of extracellular sulphated polysaccharides by vibrational spectroscopy (e.g. Orr, 1954;Suzuki & Strominger, 1960;Cael et al, 1973Cael et al, , 1976Ovsepyan et al, 1977Ovsepyan et al, , 1979Cabassi et al, 1978;Casu et al, 1978;Bychkov et al, 1981;Panov & Ovsepyan, 1984;Greer & Yaphe, 1984;Rochas et al, 1986;Zablackis & Santos, 1986), the complex and variable nature of the spectra produced has particularly limited examination of the complex heparin and heparan sulphate glycosaminoglycans by this technique. Although interpretation of spectra is facilitated by careful definition of polymer environment, and by use of glycosaminoglycan preparations that have been characterized chemically and enzymically (Grant et al, 1987a(Grant et al, , 1989), technical problems can still make spectral interpretation awkward: light-scattering by the polymer may complicate spectra in some cases, and the use of an inert dispersant of suitable refractive index such as Nujol to avoid this causes superimposition of dispersant and polymer absorbances.…”