New Mass Spectrometric Methods for Structure Analysis of Carboxymethyl Cellulose

Sammanfattning: Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is a cellulose derivative, made from cellulose by introduction of carboxymethyl groups along the molecules. The properties of CMC are affected by several parameters where the molar mass and molar mass distribution, degree of substitution (DS) and the distribution pattern along, and between, the cellulose molecules are the most prominent.In the present thesis we have investigated the use of various mass spectrometric techniques, such as matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS) and electrospray ionization MS (ESI-MS), for characterization of the chemical structure of CMC. We here present a refined sample preparation procedure for MALDI that greatly facilitates the spectrum acquisition and improves the quality of the mass spectrum when analyzing partially hydrolyzed CMC. The refined method allows for estimation of the DS in CMC samples as a complement to more expensive and laborious methods. We also show that by combining MALDI-TOFMS with selective hydrolysis, by purified endoglucanase, and size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) it is possible to differentiate between CMCs of similar monomer composition but differences in the substitution pattern. Our findings show that the CMC containing longer non-substituted cellulose segments along the polymer backbone also displayed the highest intermolecular interactions in solution, as measured by rheometry.In order to take full advantage of the selective hydrolysis, provided by purified endoglucanases, more information regarding their selectivity on CMC must be investigated. We therefore present methods where chemical sample preparation of the oligomeric enzyme products is performed in order to facilitate the chemical structure characterization by ESI-MS/MS and liquid chromatography MS (LC-MS). These methods provides valuable information regarding the substituent distribution along the oligomeric enzyme products, and thereby gives indications regarding the selectivity of the endoglucanases on CMC substrates. From our finding we are able to present interesting information regarding the selectivity of four endoglucanases (Cel7B, Cel5A, Cel45A and Cel74A) from the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei and provide plausible explanations to their apparent differences in selectivity on CMC.