A novel mass spectrometric procedure to rapidly determine the partial structure of heparin fragments.

The molecular weight and degree of sulfation has been obtained for di-, tetra- and hexasaccharide fragments of heparin obtained by enzymatic depolymerization of porcine mucosal heparin. The sodium salt form of the sulfated oligosaccharide is adsorbed onto an immobilized cationic surfactant film which is inserted directly into the mass spectrometer. Analyses are routinely obtained on 25-50 microgram samples in less than an hour. This approach provides rapid confirmatory structural information that is complementary to existing methodologies.