Technical Note 20

Analysis of Carbohydrates by High Performance

Anion Exchange Chromatography with Pulsed
Amperometric Detection (HPAE-PAD)
INTRODUCTION 2. Neutral or cationic sample components in the
Methods for the liquid chromatographic analysis of matrix elute in, or close to, the void volume of the
carbohydrates have often employed silica-based amino- column. Therefore, even if such species are oxidiz-
bonded or polymer-based metal-loaded cation exchange able, they do not usually interfere with analysis of
columns, with refractive index (RI) or low-wavelength the carbohydrate components of interest.
ultraviolet (UV) detection. These analytical methods
require attention to sample solubility, sample concentra- ANION EXCHANGE CHROMATOGRAPHY
tion and, in the case of the metal-loaded cation ex- I. Mechanism of Separation
change columns, also require column heating. In Although anion exchange chromatography has been
addition, RI and low-wavelength UV detection methods used extensively to analyze acidic carbohydrates and
are sensitive to eluent and sample matrix components. glycopeptides, it has not been commonly used for
This usually precludes the use of gradients and often analysis of neutral sugars. However, examination of the
requires stringent sample clean-up prior to injection. pKa values of the neutral monosaccharides listed in
As a result, an improved chromatographic tech- Table 1 shows that carbohydrates are in fact weak acids.
nique known as high performance anion exchange At high pH, they are at least partially ionized, and thus
(HPAE) was developed to separate carbohydrates. can be separated by anion-exchange mechanisms. This
Coupled with pulsed amperometric detection (PAD), it approach cannot be used with classical silica-based
permits direct quantification of nonderivatized carbohy- columns because these matrices dissolve at high pH.
drates at low picomole levels with minimal sample Anion exchange at high pH is, however, ideally suited
preparation and clean-up. HPAE chromatography takes to base-stable polymer anion exchange columns.
advantage of the weakly acidic nature of carbohydrates
to give highly selective separations at high pH using a
strong anion exchange stationary phase. This Technical Table 1 Dissociation Constants
Note is intended as an introduction to HPAE-PAD of Some Common Carbohydrates 5 (in water at 25 °C)
carbohydrate analysis. The technique has been reviewed Sugar pKa
extensively1–4. These papers should be consulted for
more specific details. Fructose 12.03
Mannose 12.08
HPAE-PAD is extremely selective and specific for Xylose 12.15
carbohydrates because: Glucose 12.28
Galactose 12.39
1. Pulsed amperometry detects only those compounds Dulcitol 13.43
Sorbitol 13.60
that contain functional groups that are oxidizable at α-Methyl glucoside 13.71
the detection voltage employed (in this case,
sensitivity for carbohydrates is orders of magnitude
greater than for other classes of analytes).
II. CarboPac™ Columns
Table 2 k´ Values of Selected Analytes
A. CarboPac PA1 and PA-100 Columns on the CarboPac MA1 Column a
Dionex designed the CarboPac series of columns Analyte Eluent Concentration (M NaOH)
specifically for carbohydrate anion exchange
0.05 0.14 0.25 0.38 0.50
chromatography. These columns permit the separation
and analysis of mono-, oligo-, and polysaccharides. The Glycerol 1.13 0.99 0.89 0.80 0.72
m-Inositol 1.32 1.08 0.86 0.69 0.56
CarboPac PA1 and CarboPac PA-100 are packed with a s-Inositol 1.63 1.30 1.02 0.81 0.64
unique polymeric, nonporous, MicroBead™ pellicular GlcNol 1.81 1.40 1.09 0.89 0.75
Fucitol 1.94 1.63 1.40 1.18 1.05
resin. MicroBead resins exhibit rapid mass transfer, Erythritol 2.02 1.71 1.44 1.25 1.13
high pH stability (pH 0 –14), and excellent mechanical GalNol 2.29 1.81 1.39 1.13 0.95
stability that permits back pressures of more than 4000 GalNAcol 2.35 1.81 1.38 1.12 0.95
GlcNAcol 2.61 1.96 1.48 1.18 0.95
psi (28 MPa). Column re-equilibration after gradient Xylitol 3.09 2.48 1.95 1.59 1.35
analysis is fast, generally taking 10 minutes or less. A Arabitol 4.69 3.62 2.76 2.24 1.92
diagram of a typical pellicular anion exchange resin Sorbitol 6.43 4.72 3.33 2.55 2.06
Dulcitol 6.52 5.04 3.73 2.87 2.26
bead is shown in Figure 1. Adonitol 7.09 5.31 3.83 2.96 2.43
Both the CarboPac PA1 and the CarboPac PA-100 Mannitol 8.98 6.38 4.37 3.28 2.63
Fucose 10.34 4.72 2.52 1.69 1.25
are designed for the rapid analysis of mono- and Isomaltitol 12.22 8.15 4.89 3.30 2.43
oligosaccharides. The CarboPac PA1 is particularly Lactitol 14.97 9.61 5.49 3.57 2.43
well-suited to the analysis of monosaccharides and the Gp-Man 15.66 10.36 6.18 4.15 3.05
GalN 18.56 7.16 3.39 2.13 1.48
separation of linear homopolymers, while the CarboPac GlcN 20.88 7.71 3.61 2.24 1.55
PA-100 is optimized for oligosaccharide resolution and Maltitol 31.21 17.25 8.80 5.44 3.67
separation. Several examples of separations obtained Glucose 15.70 7.19 4.31 2.91
Mannose 13.55 6.15 3.72 2.53
using these columns are shown in the Applications Galactose 17.82 8.25 4.99 3.43
section of this Technical Note. a The capacity factor, k´, is defined as: k´ = (VA - V0)/V0, where VA is the retention volume
of the analyte on the column and V0 is the void volume.

350-nm
diameter
0.1µ Diameter
ing and separating extremely weak acids. This column
SO3-
R3+N
+
NR3 is packed with a macroporous polymeric resin which
+
NR3
SO3-
R3+N +
NR3
has an ion exchange capacity 45 times that of the
+

5µ
NR3
+
NR3
CarboPac PA1. As a result, weak anions bind more
SO3- R3+N
+
NR3 strongly to the column, requiring higher sodium hydrox-
SO3- +
NR3

R3+N
+
NR3 ide concentrations for elution. The increase in hydrox-
+
SO3- NR3
ide ion concentration leads to greater ionization of the
SO3- +
NR3
sugar alcohols, with greatly improved retention and
SO3- R3+N resolution on the column.
+
NR3
Nonreduced neutral oligosaccharides can also be
Figure 1 Pellicular anion exchange resin bead. analyzed on the CarboPac MA1 column, although their
analysis times are longer than on the CarboPac PA1 and
B. CarboPac MA1 Column PA-100 columns. Retention of carbohydrates on the
Reduced carbohydrates (also called sugar alcohols) CarboPac MA1 can be manipulated by altering the
have traditionally been a difficult class of carbohydrates sodium hydroxide concentration of the eluent (see Table
to separate by liquid chromatography. They are weaker 2). Note that the elution order of several of the com-
acids than their non-reduced counterparts (compare the pounds changes with the sodium hydroxide concentra-
pKas of glucose and sorbitol or galactose and dulcitol in tion. This can be used to design separation strategies for
Table 1), and are therefore poorly retained on the specific sets of analytes. Examples of separations
CarboPac PA1 and PA-100 columns. The CarboPac obtained with the CarboPac MA1 column are shown in
MA1 was developed to address the challenge of retain- the Applications section of this Technical Note.

2 Analysis of Carbohydrates by HPAE-PAD

 Table 3 Comparison of the CarboPac MA1, PA1, and PA-100

Characteristic CarboPac MA1 CarboPac PA1 CarboPac PA-100

Recommended applications Mono- and disaccharide alcohol Monosaccharide compositional Oligosaccharide mapping and
analysis in food products, analysis, linear homopolymer analysis
physio-logical fluids, tissues and separations, saccharide
reduced glycoconjugate purification
saccharidesb
Resin composition 8.5 µm diameter vinylbenzyl- 10-µm diameter polystyrene/ 10-µm diameter ethylvinylben-
chloride/divinylbenzene divinylbenzene substrate zene/divinylbenzene substrate
macroporous substrate fully agglomerated with 350-nm agglomerated with 350-nm
functionalized with an alkyl MicroBead quaternary amine MicroBead quaternary amine
quaternary ammonium group functionalized latex functionalized latex
MicroBead latex cross-linking N/A, no latex 5% cross-linked 6% cross-linked
Anion exchange capacity 4500 µeq per 4 x 250-mm 100 µeq per 4 x 250-mm column 90 µeq per 4 x 250-mm column
column
Recommended flow rate 0.4 mL/min (4 x 250-mm 1 mL/min (4 x 250-mm column) 1 mL/min (4 x 250-mm
column) column)
pH compatibility pH 0–14 pH 0–14 pH 0–14
Organic solvent compatibility 0% 0–2% 0–100%
Maximum back pressure 2000 psi (14 MPa) 4000 psi (28 MPa) 4000 psi (28 MPa)
b Note that sialylated and other acidic mono- and oligosaccharides may not be recovered from the CarboPac MA1 column. It is not recommended that this column be used with these analytes.

III. Guidelines for CarboPac Column Selection CarboPac MA1 will usually have longer retention times
Table 3 provides a comparison of the three than the PA-100, and selectivities of the two columns
CarboPac columns. The following guidelines are useful are almost identical.
in selecting the right CarboPac column for a particular Oligosaccharides cleaved by reductive β-elimina-
application. tion from glycoproteins contain a reduced terminal and
generally elute earlier than the same oligosaccharide
A. Monosaccharides with a reducing terminal. Reduced di- and trisaccharides
For reducing monosaccharides, the recommended will elute significantly earlier than their nonreduced
column is the CarboPac PA1, while the MA1 is recom- counterparts, and may be poorly resolved on the
mended for sugar alcohols. The CarboPac MA1 column CarboPac PA1 and PA-100. These compounds are
also generates excellent neutral monosaccharide separa- readily separated on the CarboPac MA1 column.
tions, although retention times are longer than on the
PA1. Amino-sugars are better resolved on the CarboPac C. Charged Oligosaccharides
PA1 than on the MA1, but the reverse is true for N- Charged oligosaccharides (for example, those that
acetamido sugars. are sialylated, phosphorylated, sulfated, or contain car-
boxyl groups) are separated based on their composition,
B. Neutral Oligosaccharides linkage, and the level of formal negative charge. They
The CarboPac PA-100 is the most appropriate can be separated at both high (13) and low (4.6) pH. At
column for the oligosaccharide mixtures characteristic low pH, the separations are largely dependent on the
of glycoprotein-derived oligosaccharides, although charge-to-mass ratio of the oligosaccharide but may also
these compounds are only slightly less well-resolved on be influenced by linkage. Selectivity for sialylated oli-
the CarboPac PA1 column than on the PA-100. Neutral gosaccharides will change with pH as a result of
oligosaccharides up to nine monosaccharide units in oxyanion formation. The CarboPac PA-100 is recom-
size are separable on the CarboPac MA1. However, the mended for sialylated oligosaccharides, although in many
cases the PA1 performs adequate separations.

Technical Note 20 3
D. Glycosaminoglycans Table 4 CarboPac Columns Recommended by Application
Oligosaccharides derived from glycosaminogly-
cans, such as nonsulfated chondroitin disaccharides, are CarboPac CarboPac CarboPac
PA1 PA-100 MA1
separable on the CarboPac PA16.
E. Linear Polysaccharides Monosaccharides +++ +/– ++
Linear polysaccharides can be separated on the Sialylated branched
basis of length almost equally well on the CarboPac oligosaccharides ++ +++ –
PA1 and PA-100. The CarboPac PA1 has a slightly Neutral branched
higher capacity than the PA-100 and is the better oligosaccharides ++ +++ +
column to use for linear homopolymers. The CarboPac Linear oligo- and
PA-100 was designed for nonlinear and heterogeneous polysaccharides +++ +++ –
polysaccharides. N, N-1 resolution of linear polysaccha- Reduced mono- and
rides has been demonstrated on the CarboPac PA1 and disaccharides + – +++
PA-100 columns with inulin polymers to over 60 +++ indicates most suitable
monosaccharide units. The CarboPac PA1 requires a — indicates that the column is not recommended for this
application.
higher sodium acetate concentration than the PA-100 to
elute species of the same length.
Table 4 summarizes the applications for which the A. The Lowbry de Bruyn, van Ekenstein transforma-
three CarboPac columns are the most appropriate. tions7 (epimerization and keto-enol
The CarboPac PA1 and PA-100 are available in tautomerization).
guard (4 x 50 mm), analytical (4 x 250 mm), semi- D-fructose elutes as a single sharp peak with no
preparative (9 x 250 mm) and preparative sizes (22 x evidence of formation of D-glucose or D-mannose via
250 mm). A guard column should be used in front of an the Lowbry de Bruyn, van Ekenstein transformation. In
analytical column to prolong the analytical column life. addition, when glucose is left in 150 mM sodium
The CarboPac MA1 column is available in analytical hydroxide for four days at room temperature, there is no
and guard sizes. A partial list of column part numbers evidence for the presence of any mannose or fructose.
follows. Please contact your local Dionex office to order Epimerization of N-acetyl glucosamine (GlcNAc)
any column not listed below. to N-acetyl mannosamine (ManNAc) has been demon-
strated for solutions of GlcNAc in 100 mM sodium
Part No. Description hydroxide. The equilibrium ratio of GlcNAc: ManNAc
35391 CarboPac PA1 Analytical (4 x 250 mm) was 80:20 after 2-3 hours of exposure. This
43096 CarboPac PA1 Guard (4 x 50 mm) epimerization is not observed in separations using the
39686 CarboPac PA1 Semi-Preparative (9 x 250 mm) CarboPac PA1 column, presumably because the sodium
43055 CarboPac PA-100 Analytical (4 x 250 mm) hydroxide concentration is 16 mM and the chromatogra-
43054 CarboPac PA-100 Guard (4 x 50 mm) phy is sufficiently rapid (16 min) that exposure to alkali
44066 CarboPac MA1 Analytical (4 x 250 mm) is minimized. Oligosaccharides are separated in 100
44067 CarboPac MA1 Guard (4 x 50 mm) mM sodium hydroxide and are also retained longer on
the column, particularly when sialylated. Under these
IV. Sample Stability at High pH conditions, oligosaccharides may exhibit 0 to 15%
Carbohydrates undergo a number of well docu- epimerization. As alditols do not epimerize in alkali,
mented reactions at high pH that can potentially inter- oligosaccharide epimerization can be eliminated if the
fere with chromatography. However, in most cases oligosaccharide is reduced to the alditol prior to chro-
these reactions are slow at room temperature and do not matography. For the same reason, monosaccharide
appear to occur to any noticeable extent over the time alcohols are not epimerized in the high concentrations
course of the chromatography. Some of these reactions of alkali needed to elute them from the CarboPac MA1
are discussed below: column.

4 Analysis of Carbohydrates by HPAE-PAD

B. De-acetylation of N-acetylated sugars
The hydrolysis of acylated sugars at high pH is
Potential (V) t2
another potential problem. Approximately 20% of a E2

sample of N-acetylglucosamine is hydrolyzed to free

glucosamine by exposure to 150 mM sodium hydroxide
overnight at room temperature. However, chromatogra- Delay Integration

E1
phy of N-acetyl glucosamine at high pH generates a t1

single sharp peak with no evidence of formation of the E3

t3
(well resolved) free-base analog. Likewise, samples of
Time (msec)
N-acetyl neuraminic acid and N-glycolyl neuraminic
acid are easily separated as sharp symmetrical peaks8.
Figure 2 Diagram of the pulse sequence for carbohydrate
detection.
C. ß-Elimination or peeling of 3-O-substituents on
reducing sugars.
The ß-elimination of 3-O-substituents on reducing
sugars is also a potentially serious side reaction that
proceeds, in most cases, too slowly at room temperature
to be a problem. The treatment of laminaribiose (gluco-
pyranosyl ß-1-3 glucopyranose) with 150 mM sodium
hydroxide for 4 hours destroys more than 80% of the
disaccharide, producing glucose and a second unidenti-
fied peak. However, laminaribiose generates a single
peak during chromatography by HPAE with no evidence
of glucose or other breakdown products8. Conversely, D-
glucose-3-sulfate, which has a very good leaving group,
decomposes rapidly during chromatography.

PULSED AMPEROMETRIC DETECTION Figure 3 Cyclic voltammetry of glucose on a gold electrode.

I. Theory of Operation
Pulsed amperometry permits detection of carbohy-
drates with excellent signal-to-noise ratios down to the carbohydrate oxidation. The third potential, E3, reduces
approximately 10 picomoles without requiring the gold oxide on the electrode surface back to gold, thus
derivatization. Carbohydrates are detected by measuring permitting detection during the next cycle at E1.
the electrical current generated by their oxidation at the The three potentials are applied for fixed durations
surface of a gold electrode. The products of this oxida- referred to as t1, t2, and t3. The step from one potential to
tion reaction also poison the surface of the electrode, the next produces a charging current that is not part of
which means that it has to be cleaned between measure- the analyte oxidation current, so the analyte oxidation
ments. This is accomplished by first raising the poten- current is measured after a delay that allows the charg-
tial to a level sufficient to oxidize the gold surface. This ing current to decay. The carbohydrate oxidation current
causes desorption of the carbohydrate oxidation prod- is measured by integrating the cell current after the
ucts. The electrode potential is then lowered to reduce delay. Current integrated over time is charge, so the
the electrode surface back to gold. The sequence of detector response is measured in coulombs. Alterna-
potentials is illustrated in Figure 2. tively, the average current during the integration period
Pulsed amperometric detection thus employs a can be reported. In this case, the units used are amperes.
repeating sequence of three potentials. Current from Optimal potentials can be determined by electro-
carbohydrate oxidation is measured at the first potential, chemical experiments such as cyclic voltammetry, in
E1. The second, E2, is a more positive potential that which the applied potentials are slowly scanned back
oxidizes the gold electrode and cleans it of products from and forth between positive and negative potential limits.

Technical Note 20 5
The resulting current is plotted on the Y-axis with sugars tested, although the best signal-to-noise ratio
oxidation (anodic) currents up and reduction (cathodic) actually occurs at a slightly lower potential. Figure 4
currents down. Figure 3 shows the cyclic shows that the voltage at which the maximum response
voltammogram of glucose in a 100 mM potassium occurs is the same for three very different sugars: xylitol,
hydroxide solution on a gold electrode. The dashed line a nonreducing sugar alcohol; glucose, a reducing
is a background scan of a solution of 100 mM potas- monosaccharide; and sucrose, a nonreducing disaccha-
sium hydroxide. As the potential is raised, the current ride. This is because the oxidation of the sugars at the
starts to rise at about 0.2 V (see Fig. 3, upper dashed electrode is catalyzed by the electrode surface. As a
line). This is caused by oxidation of the gold surface. result, the amperometric response of a class of com-
Reduction of the surface gold oxide back to gold occurs pounds is controlled primarily by the dependence of the
on the reverse scan (lower dashed line) with a cathodic catalytic surface state on the electrode potential and not
(negative) current peak at about 0.1 V. on the redox potentials of the compounds themselves.
When glucose is present (solid line), its oxidation Pulsed amperometric detection is thus a universal detec-
peaks at about 0.25 V (upper solid trace), which is also the tion method for all carbohydrates, although derivatization
potential at which formation of gold oxide begins. The of two or more hydroxyl groups will decrease (and may
glucose oxidation current drops as gold oxidation contin- even abolish) detection.
ues to increase, demonstrating that the formation of gold Potential E2 must be high enough and long enough to
oxide inhibits oxidation of glucose. On the reverse scan, oxidize the electrode surface fully so that the carbohy-
the current actually reverses from negative to positive at drate oxidation products are completely removed. This
the onset of gold oxide reduction, further evidence of the potential cannot be too high, however, or excessive gold
inhibiting effect of gold oxide on the oxidation of glucose. oxidation will occur and the electrode will wear too rap-
It is thus important to use a measuring potential (E1) below idly. The third potential, E3, must be low enough to re-
that required for gold oxidation. duce the oxidized surface of the gold electrode com-
All three potentials are important. However, the pletely without being so low that chemical reductions
most important is E1 — the potential at which the (for example, of oxygen to hydrogen peroxide) will oc-
carbohydrate oxidation current is measured. A plot of cur. The results of these reactions may cause baseline
detector response as a function of E1 is shown in Figure disturbances during subsequent measurement at E1.
4. The background current is also shown. The maximum Recommended pulse sequences for the Dionex
response is shown to occur at about 0.2 V for the three pulsed amperometric detectors are given in Technical
Note 21, which is available from your local Dionex
representative.

APPLICATIONS
I. Eluent Preparation for Carbohydrate Analysis
When making eluents for carbohydrate analysis, it is
important to use reagents of the grade listed:
50% (w/w) Sodium hydroxide solution
Fisher Cat. No. SS254-1
Anhydrous sodium acetate
Fluka Cat. No. 71179
Sodium Hydroxide: It is extremely important to minimize
contamination of the eluent solutions with carbonate.
Carbonate, being a divalent anion at pH ≥ 12, binds
strongly to the columns and interferes with carbohy-
drate binding, causing a drastic decrease in column
Figure 4 The oxidation current generated at different values selectivity and a loss of resolution and efficiency.
of E1 for three different carbohydrates. Commercially available sodium hydroxide pellets are

6 Analysis of Carbohydrates by HPAE-PAD

 covered with a thin layer of sodium carbonate and i. Distilled Water
should NOT be used. A 50% w/w sodium hydroxide High-quality water should be degassed by one of
solution is much lower in carbonate. Any carbonate the following two methods:
present will precipitate to the bottom of the container 1. Sparging with helium for 20 to 30 minutes. Degas-
and can be avoided. The concentration of the 50% sing is complete when all of the small bubbles first
sodium hydroxide solution is approximately 19.3 M, formed upon degassing disappear.
so diluting 20.8 mL of a 50% solution into 2 L of 2. Sonication for 30 to 60 seconds while degassing
water yields a 0.2 M sodium hydroxide solution. with a water vacuum aspirator, followed by a 10-
Distilled Water: It is essential to use high-quality water. minute helium sparge. Degassing is again complete
It is critical that there be as little dissolved carbon when all of the small bubbles first formed upon
dioxide as possible in the water. It should also be of degassing disappear.
high resistivity (18 MΩ) and biological contamina-
tion should be absent. The use of fresh Pyrex® ii. Sodium Hydroxide
glass-distilled water is recommended. The still Degas the required volume of water, as described
should be fed with high-resistivity (18 MΩ) water, above. After degassing is complete, use a plastic pipet
and the use of plastic tubing should be avoided be- to add the appropriate amount of 50% sodium hydrox-
cause it often supports microbial growth. Biological ide solution to give the required concentration. Avoid
contamination is often the source of unexpected bubbling air into the eluent when expelling the 50%
glucose peaks after acid hydrolysis. sodium hydroxide solution from the pipet. Rinse the
pipet by drawing some of the sodium hydroxide/water
A. Guidelines to Handling the 50% (w/w) Sodium mixture into the pipet and expelling it back into the
Hydroxide Solution solution. Repeat this several times. Add a stirring bar to
1. To avoid mixing of the sodium carbonate precipi- the mixture and stir gently without agitating the surface
tate into the solution, store the 50% sodium hydrox- for about 2 minutes.
ide close to where the eluent will be prepared. DO As an alternative, the 50% sodium hydroxide can be
NOT SHAKE OR STIR THIS SOLUTION. pipetted directly into the distilled water as it is being
2. Never pour the solution from the bottle. sparged by the Dionex Eluent Degas Module (EDM).
3. Pipet sodium hydroxide from the center of the Sparge the water for 15 minutes, add the sodium
solution, not from edges or bottom. Do not allow hydroxide, rinse the pipet, and swirl the solution in the
the pipet to stir the solution at the bottom. bottle to mix. Then sparge the solution for an additional
4. Use only plastic pipets, as sodium hydroxide 5 minutes. The sparging will complete the mixing.
leaches borate and silicate out of glass. Borate will Both methods work well. It is most important to be
complex with carbohydrates and will thus alter their consistent in the method used. Store sodium hydroxide
chromatographic behavior. solutions in plastic containers, as they will leach borate
5. Never return unused liquid to the bottle. and silicate out of glass.
6. Close the bottle immediately after each use and
leave open for the shortest time possible to avoid iii. Sodium Hydroxide/Sodium Acetate Solutions
carbon dioxide absorption. Degas the required volume of water as described
7. Discard the bottle of 50% sodium hydroxide when above, and transfer it to a graduated cylinder. Add a stir
2 to 3 cm or less of solution remains. bar and start stirring, while steadily adding the anhy-
drous crystalline sodium acetate. After the salt dis-
B. Eluent Preparation solves, retrieve the stir bar and add the appropriate
It is impossible to completely eliminate all carbon- volume of 50% (w/w) sodium hydroxide to the gradu-
ate from eluents. Therefore, to ensure reproducible ated cylinder in the same manner as described previ-
chromatography, it is essential to use the same methods ously. Bring the volume to the requisite level (e.g., 1 or
consistently in preparing the solutions. Once eluents 2 L). Vacuum filter the mixture through a 0.2-µm nylon
have been prepared, they should be kept blanketed filter. Alternatively, sparge the filtered acetate solution
under helium (5 to 7 psi/34 to 48 kPa) at all times. for 15 minutes, add the sodium hydroxide, swirl the

Technical Note 20 7
solution to mix, and continue to sparge for 5 minutes. preference to other anionic species. This cartridge is,
Once again, it is important to be consistent in the method however, a cation exchanger, so amino sugars will be
used to make up the solution. extracted unless they are N-acetylated.
Sodium acetate solutions should last about one
week. The most consistent chromatography has been D. Samples Containing Sulfate and Other Anions
obtained using sodium acetate purchased from Fluka. Sulfate may be precipitated as the barium salt by
addition of barium hydroxide solution. However, it
II. Sample Preparation should be noted that some carbohydrates may co-
It is recommended that all samples other than pure precipitate with the barium sulfate in this procedure,
standards be passed through a 0.45-µm nylon filter prior especially carbohydrates bearing sulfate esters. The
to injection to remove particulates. Cellulose acetate and Dionex On-Guard A cartridge (P/N 42102) is designed
other filters should be avoided because they may leach specifically to remove anion contaminants from sample
carbohydrates. Filters of a type not previously verified as matrices. On-Guard A cartridges contain styrene-based
“clean” should be evaluated for contribution of “PAD- anion exchange resin in the bicarbonate form. They
active” components before use. should not be used with samples that contain sialic acids,
Sample preparation is obviously dependent on sample or sugars with other acid substituents.
matrix complexity and, as such, the recommendations that
follow should be considered as guidelines only. In III. Standard Chromatography Conditions for the Analysis
particular, the effect of sample pretreatment cartridges on of Carbohydrates
the carbohydrate analytes themselves should be predeter- The conditions described in this section have been
mined using standard solutions. It may be found that some found to give reliable separations of the common
carbohydrates have a strong affinity for particular car- classes of carbohydrates using HPAE chromatography.
tridge packing materials. This is obviously of importance Samples and their matrices vary, therefore these
for quantification and in the detection of low levels of conditions are intended to be used as guidelines only.
carbohydrates.
A. Monosaccharides - Neutral and Amino Sugars
A. Samples Containing High Levels of Protein or These sugars can be successfully separated on the
Peptides CarboPac PA1 column using isocratic conditions with
Physiological fluids such as plasma, urine, or other 16 mM sodium hydroxide as the eluent. A representa-
samples containing high levels of proteins should be tive chromatogram is shown in Figure 5. Because the
deproteinized first. This may be achieved by standard concentration of sodium hydroxide used for the separa-
precipitation procedures or by passing the analyte tion is only 16 mM, the column should be regener-
solution through a hydrophobic filter cartridge such as ated after each run. Otherwise, carbonate will start to
the Dionex OnGuard™-RP Cartridge (P/N 39595). contaminate the column, irrespective of the care taken
to eliminate it from eluents and samples. Regenerate the
B. Samples Containing High Levels of Humic Acids column by washing it with 200 mM sodium hydroxide
or Phenolics for 10 minutes at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. This
To remove the phenolic fraction of humic acids, procedure will also remove other strongly bound
tannic acids, or lignins found in food samples (such as contaminants such as peptides and amino acids. This
wine), the sample may be passed through a polyvinylpyr- step is extremely important and should not be omitted.
rolidone (PVP) filter cartridge, such as the Dionex After washing, the column should be re-equilibrated
OnGuard-P Cartridge (P/N 39597). with 16 mM sodium hydroxide at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/
min for 10 minutes. It is very important to keep the rinse
C. Samples Containing Halides
and re-equilibration times consistent from run to run.
To remove halides, the sample may be passed
through a Dionex OnGuard-Ag cartridge (P/N 39637).
This cartridge selectively removes Cl–, Br– and I– in

8 Analysis of Carbohydrates by HPAE-PAD

B. Sugar Alcohols hydroxide solutions can be used isocratically (Fig. 10) or
Mono- and oligosaccharide sugar alcohols can be in gradients (Figs. 11 and 12). Sodium acetate gradients
separated using the CarboPac MA1 column with sodium are NOT RECOMMENDED for the CarboPac MA1
hydroxide eluents. Examples of isocratic separations are column because column regeneration will require
shown in Figures 6 and 7. Gradients can be used to several hours. The use of sodium acetate gradients is not
improve separations (Fig. 8) or to accelerate the elution a problem with the CarboPac PA1 and CarboPac PA-
of late-eluting components (Fig. 9). Table 2 shows that 100, because these columns have a lower anion ex-
the elution order of certain carbohydrates may be altered change capacity and thus regenerate quickly.
by changing the sodium hydroxide concentration. To maintain baseline stability, it is helpful to keep
the sodium hydroxide concentration constant during the
C. Sialic Acids, Sialylated and Phosphorylated sodium acetate gradient, because acetate has no buffer-
Oligosaccharides ing capacity at high pH. This is achieved by making
The elution of acidic sugars from the CarboPac PA1 eluents as follows:
or the CarboPac PA-100 columns requires stronger
eluents than those used with neutral sugars. This is Eluent A: x mM NaOH
usually accom-plished by the addition of sodium acetate Eluent B: x mM NaOH, y mM NaOAc
to the sodium hydroxide eluent. Sodium acetate acceler- When devising gradients for the analysis of a carbo-
ates the elution of strongly bound species without hydrate sample of unknown composition, it is generally
compromising selectivity and without interfering with good practice to run a “scouting gradient”. This gradient
pulsed amperometric detection. Sodium acetate/sodium consists of a rapid linear gradient (t ≤ 15 minutes) from

Column: CarboPac PA1 Column: CarboPac MA1

Eluent: 16mM NaOH 0.2 1 Eluent: 480 mM Sodium hydroxide
Flow Rate: 1.0 mL/ min Flow Rate: 0.4 mL/ min
Detector: PAD (gold) Detector: PED (gold)
1000 nA full scale Peaks: 1. Inositol 18 mg/ L
Peaks: 1. Fucose 2. Glycerol 9
2. Galactosamine 3. Arabitol 15
3. Glucosamine 2 4. Sorbitol 18
µC
4. Galactose 3 5. Dulcitol 18
5. Glucose 45 6. Mannitol 18
6. Mannose 6 7. Mannose 18
7 8 9 8. Glucose 18
10 11 9. Galactose 18
10. Fructose 18
0 11. Sucrose 34
0 10 20 30 40 50
Minutes

Figure 5 Separation of neutral and amino monosaccharides Figure 7 Separation of reducing and nonreducing carbohy-
derived from glycoproteins. drates. Food alditols and aldoses are separable under isocratic
conditions on the CarboPac MA1.

Column: CarboPac MA1 Column: CarboPac MA1

0.15 1
Eluent: 0.6 M Sodium hydroxide Eluent: 80 to 700 mM Sodium
Flow Rate: 0.4 mL/ min hydroxide gradient
Detector: PAD (gold) 0.4 Flow Rate: 0.4 mL/ min
2
Peaks: 1. Inositol 18.0 ppm 3 Detector: PAD (gold)
2. Xylitol 15.2 Peaks: 1. Glycerol 2.0 nmol
3. Sorbitol 18.2 2. myo-Inositol 2.0
µC 67
4. Dulcitol 18.2 5 3. scylio-Inositol
1 4
2 5. Mannitol 18.2 2.0 4. Erythritol 2.0
µC
3 6. Glucose 18.0 5. Arabitol 2.0
45 7. Fructose 18.0 6. Sorbitol 2.0
6 7. Dulcitol 2.0
7
0
0

0 10 20 30 40 50 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Minutes Minutes

Figure 6 Isocratic separation of a group of alditols plus Figure 8 Separation of alditols found in biological fluids. The
glucose and fructose on the CarboPac MA1 column. NaOH gradient improves the separation of sorbitol and dulcitol,
which are poorly resolved at NaOH concentrations that permit
resolution of glycerol from inositol.

Technical Note 20 9
 Column: CarboPac MA1 Conditions 4. α-D-Glucose-1-P 1.75
Eluent: 100 Sodium hydroxide with Column: CarboPac PA 1 5. α-D-Ribose-1-P 1.46
100 mM to 700 mM Flowrate: 1.0 mL/ min 6. ß- D-Glucose-1-P 1.75
Sodium hydroxide in 11 min Detector: PAD (Gold) x 10kna 7. D-Glucosamine-6-p 3.75
0.3 Flow Rate: 0.4 mL/ min Eluent A: 100 mM NaOH 8. D-Galactose-6-P 2.04
Detector: PED Eluent B: 100 mM NaOH, 9. D-Glucose-6-P 1.25
Peaks: 1. Fucitol 2.0 ppm 1.0 M NaOAc 10. D-Fructose-1-P 0.96
2. GalNAcol 2.0 T0 = 90% A, 10% B 11. D-Fructose-6-P 0.42
µC 3. GlcNAcol 2.0 T 20 = 80% A, 20% B 12. α-D-Glucuronic acid-1-P 3.08
4
4. Mannitol 2.0 T 30 = 50% A, 50% B 13. α-D-Glucose-1,6-Di P 1.06
1
23 Peaks: 1. α-D-Galactosamine -1-P 1.13 µg 14. ß- D-Fructose-2,6-Di P 0.92
2. α-D-Glucosamine-1-P 0.45 15. D-Fructose-1,6-Di P 0.92
3. α-D-Galactose-1-P 1.75
0

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Minutes

Figure 9 Separation of monosaccharide alditols released by

direct ß-elimination from glycoproteins. The hydroxide gradient
following the isocratic separation of the first three components
accelerates the elution of mannitol as well as any oligosaccharide
alcohols that may have been released during the ß-elimination
process.
Figure 12 Analysis of mono- and diphosphorylated
Column: CarboPac PA1 monosaccharides.
Eluent: 100 NaOH, 150 mM NaOAc
Flow Rate: 1.0 mL/ min
Detector: PAD (gold)
Peaks:
1. N-Acetylneuraminic Acid 2.5 µg
2. Glucuronic Acid 2.0*
3. N-Glycolylneuraminic Acid 2.5

* Internal standard Amylose Structure

Column: CarboPac PA1
Eluent A: 100 mM NaOH
Eluent B: 100 mM NaOH+
600 mM NaOAc
Gradient: 0-100% B in 30 min.
Flow Rate: 1.0 mL/ min
Detector: PAD (gold)

Figure 10 Isocratic separation of sialic acids using a sodium

hydroxide/sodium acetate mixture.

Figure 13 Analysis of “Dextrin 7” glucose polymer.

Column: CarboPac PA1

Eluent 1: 200 mM NaOc, 100 mM NaOH
Eluent 2: 700 mM NaOAc, 50 mM NaOH
Gradient: Time %1 %2
0 100 0
200 50 50
Flow Rate: 1.0 mL/ min
Detector: PAD II, range 2, gold
Settings: E(V) t(ms)
1. 0.00 300
2. 0.60 540
3.- 0.80 540
1. NANA Gal Glc NANA
α2-3 β1-4 α2-6
2. NANA Gal Glc 5. Gal GlcNAc Gal Glc
α2-6 β1-4 β1-3 β1-3 β1-4
3. Gal GalNAc Gal Glc NANA
β1-3 β1-4 β1-4
α2-6
α2-3
NANA NANA 6. Gal GlcNAc Gal Glc
β1-4 β1-3 β1-4
α2-3
NANA
4. Gal GlcNAc Gal Glc
β1-3 β1-3 β1-4 α2-6
7. Gal GlcNAc Gal Glc
β1-3 β1-3 β1-4
α2-3
NANA

Figure 11 Gradient separation of sialylated oligosaccharides Figure 14 Comparison of water washed inulins (Cichorium
using the CarboPac PA1 column. intybus vs. Dahlia sp.) using the CarboPac PA1.

10 Analysis of Carbohydrates by HPAE-PAD

 Column: CarboPac PA-100 Column: Two CarboPac PA-100 columns, in series 5. GP11 Man5GlcNAc2
Flow Rate: 1.0 mL/min Flow Rate: 1.0 mL/min 6. GP07 Asialo biantennary, Core Fuc
Detector: PAD, 1000nA full scale Detector: PAD, 300nA full scale 7. GP14 Asialo agalacto triantennary
Sample: 25 µL of 0.3%(w/v) solution Sample: Mixture of 12 reduced OligoStandards 8. GP09 Asialo bisected biantennary,
Gradient Program: Time (min) NaOH (mM) NaOAc (mM) Peaks: (100 pmol each) Core Fuc
0 100 120 1. GP17 Fucosylated Man3GlcNAc2 9. GP13 Asialo agalacto tetra-antennary
85 100 550 2. GP18 Man3GlcNAc2 10. GP12 Bisected hybrid
87 100 120 3. GP15 Asialo agalacto biantennary, 11. GP05 Asialo tetra-antennary
Core Fuc 12. GP10 Man9GlcNAc2
4. GP16 Asialo agalacto biantennary

Figure 15 Gradient separation of chicory inulin using the

CarboPac PA-100.

Figure 16 Separation of Dionex OligoStandard™ glycoprotein-

derived oligosaccharides.
a low to a sufficiently high acetate concentration that it
will elute all of the components. It is then possible to
fine tune the separation, with the assurance that the gra-
dient is sufficiently broad to include all of the sample
components.
Sialic acids can also be separated at neutral pH.
This is particularly useful for O-acetylated species,
which are unstable at high pH 9–11.

D. Oligo- and Polysaccharides

Separations of high mannose, hybrid, and complex
oligosaccharides are best accomplished using the
CarboPac PA-100 column. Linear homopolymers are
successfully separated on the CarboPac PA1 or PA-100.
Figure 17 Separation of glycoprotein-derived mannose
In all cases, separations are accelerated and improved oligosaccharides using the CarboPac PA-100 column. Panel A:
by using sodium acetate gradients in sodium hydroxide. Dionex OligoStandards GP11 and GP10, Man5GlcNAc2 and
Man9GlcNAc2, respectively. Panel B: Endonuclease H digest of
Sodium hydroxide gradients are also useful. Separation ribonuclease B.
of several polysaccharides using either the CarboPac
PA1 or the PA-100 are shown in Figures 13 through 15. Neutral O-linked oligosaccharides released by
Figure 14 also shows the structure of inulin. reductive- elimination are alditols and may be best
Figure 16 shows the separation of a group of neutral separated on the CarboPac PA1 column (≥ 3 carbohy-
glycoprotein-derived oligosaccharides on the CarboPac drate units) or on the CarboPac MA1 column (< 3
PA-100, while Figures 17 through 20 show examples of carbohydrate units).
how HPAE-PAD analysis on the CarboPac PA-100
column can be used to map oligosaccharides released V. Post-Column Addition of Base
from glycoproteins by enzyme digestion. Note that in To optimize baseline stability and detector sensitiv-
Figure 18 the two oligosaccharide peaks marked 1 and 2 ity, it is sometimes necessary to add strong base to the
differ only in the linkage position of the sialic acid on eluent stream post column, particularly when using
one branch of the triantennary structure (α2→6 versus neutral pH eluents or when the eluent contains a low
α2→3). concentration sodium hydroxide. Post-column addition
of base can help with quantification, in part by main-
taining a more constant hydroxide concentration at the

Technical Note 20 11
 B. Tri-sialylated Peaks:
1. NANAα(2→ 6)Galβ(1→ 4)GlcNAcβ(1→ 2)Manα(1→ 6)
Manβ(1→ 4)-R
2. NANAα(2→ 6)Galβ(1→ 4)GlcNAcβ(1→ 2)Manα(1→ 3)
NANAα(2→ 3)Galβ(1→ 4)GlcNAcβ(1→ 4)

NANAα(2→ 3)Galβ(1→ 4)GlcNAcβ(1→ 2)Manα(1→ 6)

Manβ(1→ 4)-R
NANAα(2→ 6)Galβ(1→ 4)GlcNAcβ(1→ 2)Manα(1→ 3)
NANAα(2→ 3)Galβ(1→ 4)GlcNAcβ(1→ 4)

R=GlcNAcβ(1→ 4)GlcNAcαβ

Minutes
Figure 18 Separation of fetuin N-linked oligosaccharides.
Panel A: HPAE-PAD analysis using a CarboPac PA-100. Figure 19 Gradient separation (using the CarboPac PA-100
Panel B: Structures of the trisialylated species, peaks 1 and 2. column) of oligosaccharides released by sequential enzyme diges-
tion of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA).
electrode. Users have found, however, that post-column Panel A: High-mannose oligosaccharides released from rtPA by
digestion with endonuclease H. The elution positions of
addition of base is often unnecessary with routine Man5GlcNAc2 and Man9GlcNAc2 are indicated by the numbered
isocratic and gradient separations at sodium hydroxide arrows.
concentrations ≥ 15 mM. Panel B: Oligosaccharides released from rtPA by endonuclease F2
(cleaves predominantly biantennary-type chains).
(From Weitzhandler et al.12 Reproduced with permission.)
A. Separations at Low pH
Sialic acids, sialylated oligosaccharides, and other
carbohydrates bearing strongly acidic substituents can
be separated by anion exchange at lower pH values10,11.
This option is particularly useful when analyzing
oligosaccharides that possess O-acetylated sialyl
groups, because these groups are unstable at high pH.
When low pH eluents are used, sodium hydroxide must
be added to the eluent after it has left the column and
before it enters the detector, because carbohydrates are
best detected at gold electrodes when pH ≥ 12.

B. Sodium Hydroxide Gradients

Changing the sodium hydroxide concentration alters
the pH of the solution, which can affect the detector
electrode response. While the PED and the solvent com-
patible PAD are affected very little by pH changes, the Minutes

standard PAD-2 cell is fairly sensitive. A gradient from

Figure 20 Gradient separation (using the CarboPac PA-100
10 mM sodium hydroxide to 100 mM sodium hydroxide column) of oligosaccharides in recombinant erythropoietin
results in an effective change of 1 pH unit during the gra- (rEPO). Panel A: Oligosaccharides released by PNGase F
digestion.
dient. The effect on detector response can be minimized Panel B: Digestion of the mixture in panel A by endo-ß-
by the use of optimized pulse sequence settings. Opti- galactosidase shows that three of the four major tetrasialylated
mized pulse sequence settings are discussed in detail in species contain polylactosamine structures.
(From Weitzhandler et al.12 Reproduced with permission.)
Technical Note 21, which can be obtained from your lo-

12 Analysis of Carbohydrates by HPAE-PAD

cal Dionex representative. If necessary, however, a solu-
tion of sodium hydroxide can be added post column to
minimize the pH shift. For example, the addition of 300
mM sodium hydroxide to the column effluent of a gradi-
ent of 10 to 100 mM sodium hydroxide would result in a
total pH change of only 0.11 units (if the flow rates of
the post-column base and eluent were equal). A pH
change of this magnitude would generate a negligible
baseline shift.
Post-column base can be delivered through a
mixing T using the Dionex Post-Column Pneumatic
Controller. To ensure run-to-run reproducibility, the
Controller should be adjusted so that:
1. the flow rate is constant,
2. the mixture entering the detector has a pH ≈ 13, and
3. the flow rate of the mixture of eluent plus post
column base stays the same from run to run.

REFERENCES
1. Hardy, M.R., Townsend, R.R., Lee, Y.C. Anal.
Biochem. 1988 , 170, 54-62.
2. Townsend, R.R., Hardy, M.R., Hindsgaul, O. and
Lee, Y.C. Anal. Biochem. 1988 , 174, 459–470.
3. Lee, Y.C. Anal. Biochem. 1990 , 189, 151–162.
4. Townsend, R.R. and Hardy, M.R. Glycobiology
1991 , 1, 139–147.
5. From Lange’s Handbook of Chemistry (13th
Edition)
6. Shibata, S., Midura, R.J. and Hascall, V.C. J. Biol.
Chem. 1992 , 267, 6548–6555.
7. Lowbry de Bruyn, C.A., van Ekenstein, W.A. Rec.
Trav. Chim. 1895 , 14, 195.
8. Olechno, J.D., Carter, S.R., Edwards, W.T., Gillen,
D.G. American Biotech. Lab. 1987 , 5, 38–50.
9. Varki, A. and Diaz, S. Anal. Biochem. 1984 , 137,
236–247.
10. Manzi, A.E., Diaz, S.,Varki, A. Anal. Biochem.
1990 , 188, 20–32.
11. Watson, E., Bhide, A., Kenney, W.C., Lin, F.-K.
Anal. Biochem. 1992 , 205, 90–95.
12. Weitzhandler, M., Kadlecek, D., Avdalovic, N.,
Forte, J.G., Chow, D., and Townsend, R.R. J. Biol.
Chem. 1993 , 268, 5121–5130.

Technical Note 20 13
 CarboPac, MicroBead, OligoStandards and OnGuard are trademarks of Dionex Corporation.
Pyrex is a registered trademark of Corning Glass Works.

Printed on recycled and recyclable paper.

Dionex Corporation Dionex Corporation Dionex U.S. Regional Offices Dionex International Subsidiaries
1228 Titan Way Salt Lake City Technical Center Sunnyvale, CA (408) 737-8522 Austria (01) 616 51 25 Belgium (015) 203800 Canada (905) 844-9650 France 01 39 30 01 10 Germany 06126-991-0
P.O. Box 3603 1515 West 2200 South, Suite A Westmont, IL (630) 789-3660 Italy (06) 66 51 50 52 Japan (06) 6885-1213 The Netherlands (0161) 434303 Switzerland (062) 205 99 66 United Kingdom (01276) 691722
Sunnyvale, CA Salt Lake City, UT Houston, TX (281) 847-5652 * Designed, developed, and manufactured under an NSAI registered ISO 9001 Quality System.
94088-3603 84119-1484 Atlanta, GA (770) 432-8100
14 Analysis of Carbohydrates by HPAE-PAD
(408) 737-0700 (801) 972-9292 Marlton, NJ (856) 596-0600 LPN 032857-04 5M 6/00
© 2000 Dionex Corporation