Aliphatic polyesters for advanced technologies structural characterization of biopolyesters with the aid of mass spectrometry

Application of the ESI- mass spectrometry technique for the structural studies of biopoliesters is reported. The structural studies were performed on two selected commercially available biopolyesters i.e. poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBH), contained up to 87% of PHB repeat units, with the aid of ESI-MS analysis of the respective low molar mass oligomers. The molecular architecture of individual macromolecules, including the chemical structure of the end groups, composition and sequence distribution were determined based on mass-resolved signals of ESI-mass spectra of PHBH and PHBV oligomers. The general utility of MS characterization of biopoliester macromolecules at the molecular level has been demonstrated and supported by NMR analysis.