Gas-chromatographic identification of urinary carbohydrates isolated by anion-exchange chromatography.

More than 40 chromatographic peaks representing carbohydrates have been separated from human urine by a carbohydrate analyzer that makes use of anion-exchange chromatography. Ten of these separated carbohydrates have been identified by gas chromatography of their trimethylsilyl derivatives, which were formed by reaction with N-trimethylsilylimidazole. The borate buffer from the anion-exchange separation was removed from the samples before the derivatives were made. Gas-chromatographic retention data have been determined for 37 carbohydrates, including pentoses, hexoses, hexosamines, disaccharides, and trisaccharides, and are tabulated as methylene unit (MU) values. These various classes of carbohydrates elute within distinct MU regions, generally in the order of increasing molecular weight. More than one peak is obtained for those sugars existing in more than one anomeric form.