Determination of carbohydrates using pulsed amperometric detection combined with anion exchange separations

Carbohydrates, including the monosaccharides commonly found in wood and wood pulp hydrolyzates, are separated by anion exchange chromatography using hydroxide and acetate eluants and are determined using pulsed amperometric detection. The detection method is based on oxidizing the sugars in a flow-through electrochemical cell equipped with a gold working electrode. A repeating cycle of three potentials is used: the first to oxidize the carbohydrates and measure the current generated, and two subsequent pulses to clean the electrode surface of oxidation products. The method is fast, sensitive, and requires no pre-column derivatization. It is applied to a sample of hydrolyzed wood pulp, which can be analyzed after minimal sample preparation. Detection limits are of the order of 1 mg/kg for monosaccharides in a 50 micro L injection. (Refs. 8).