Polyglucose fractionation

Polysaccharides from which 2,4,6-trimethyl-D-glucose can be prepared by methylation and hydrolysis include a polyglucose isolated from the cell wall of brewer s yeast,166 laminarin168 and the hemicellulose fraction of Iceland moss.188... 

Other solvents may also be used with similar effects. Isopropyl alcohol has been used for fractionating a polyglucose.72 Examination of the fractions revealed that fractionation according to viscosity and immunological reactivity had occurred.240 The excellent solvent properties of methyl sulfoxide,241 tetramethylene sulfone, pyridine, N, TV-dimethylformamide, and formamide may also prove useful. 

Heidelberger and Aisenberg240 studied the cross-reaction of the Merck and DuPont polyglucoses with antibodies to pneumococcal C-substance and to type-specific polysaccharides. One of the D-glucose polymers (Merck 52R61I) was separated into a series of fractions on the basis of fractionation with alcohol (isopropyl alcohol and ethanol) and with glacial acetic acid, the most insoluble fraction being called A, and the most soluble, E. The yield, analyses, and reactivity of these fractions with Types IX, XII, XX, and XXII antipneumococcal horse sera are presented in Table VII. 

Heidelberger and coworkers demonstrated that glycogens274-277 from several sources gave specific precipitates with practically the same antipneumococcal sera with which the synthetic polyglucoses (especially, fractions A and A of the Merck polymer) react. In many instances, these fractions precipitated more antibody nitrogen than the naturally occurring polyglucoses. 

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