Complexation behavior of mono- and disaccharides by the vinylbenzeneboronic acid–divinylbenzene copolymer resins packed in a high-performance liquid chromatographic column

Using an HPLC column packed with monodispersed vinylbenzeneboronic acid–divinylbenzene (V–D) copolymer resins, the elution behaviors of the mono- and disaccharides were studied under different pH mobile phases. The monodispersed V–D copolymer resins were prepared by the copolymerization of 4-vinylbenzeneboronic acid and divinylbenzene in the presence of template silica gel particles (particle size: 5 μm; pore size: 10 nm), followed by dissolution of the template silica gel using a NaOH solution. Similarly, styrene–divinylbenzene (S–D) copolymer resins as the control resins were also synthesized. The transmission electron micrographs of these polymer resins revealed a good monodispersity. The complexation behavior of the saccharides was evaluated by comparison of the peak area eluted through the V–D column for that through the S–D column. Four aldopentoses (d-ribose, d-arabinose, d-xylose, and d-lyxose) and four aldohexoses (d-glucose, d-mannose, d-galactose, and d-talose) were retained completely at pH 11.9. Especially, ribose and talose were totally retained even under acidic and neutral conditions. For the disaccharides, unlike sucrose and maltose, palatinose was completely retained in basic mobile phases.