Characterization of complex phthalic acid/propylene glycol based polyesters by the combination of 2D chromatography and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.

The combination of gradient HPLC, 2D chromatography, and MALDI-TOF MS facilitated the analysis of the various distributions of phthalic acid/propylene glycol-based model polyesters. Investigations of kinetic samples taken at various reaction times highlighted the subsequent differences at various stages of the polyesterification reaction in terms of molecular weight, chemical composition, and endgroups. Normal-phase gradient-HPLC analysis successfully enabled an oligomeric separation of the respective samples.

Analysis of complex phthalic acid based polyesters by the combination of size exclusion chromatography and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) was used in conjunction with size exclusion chromatography (SEC) to investigate a model polyester system based on phthalic anhydride-1,2-propylene glycol. The polyesters were synthesized with a 30% molar excess of glycol, with kinetic samples being removed during different intervals of the polyesterification reaction. SEC was used to track the course of the reaction by determining the molecular weight and molecular weight distributions before subsequent off-line coupling with MALDI-TOF MS as a selective detection method to determine the chemical composition, identify the functionality type distributions as well as assist in assigning structural conformations.