Polymethacrylate macroporous resins: the chromatographic solution to high yield biomolecule purification
ALESSANDRA BASSO, BENJAMIN D. SUMMERS*, SIMONA SERBAN, CHRISTOPHER BRESNER
*Corresponding author
Purolite Ltd., Llantrisant, United Kingdom
Abstract
Methacrylic resins occupy a unique position in terms of hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity within the range of chromatographic resins. By exploiting the reduced hydrophobicity of the backbone compared to traditional styrene/DVB polymer resin, excellent results can be obtained for biomolecule purification that would otherwise be impossible. Additionally, the high mechanical strength granted by this cross-linked polymer backbone, facilitates high pressure and flow rates compared to agarose-based resins. In this study, a selection of commercially-available synthetic polymeric resins were tested for a range of physical characteristics to demonstrate the advantages of methacrylic resins in specific applications. The general utility of the Chromalite® M range of resins is clearly demonstrated by the excellent results observed for mechanical stability and monodispersity, and the high dynamic binding capacity.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
A range of methacrylic resins were selected and characterized for their particle size and porosity (Table 1).
As these characteristics are key to a wide range of chromatographic properties, from backpressure to separating power (1,2), this information allows us to identify a resin at first glance, that would be suitable for use in a separating process.
For chromatographic applications, it is also important to consider the distribution of particle sizes; a wider particle size distribution within the range will result in less efficient packing of the bed, which negatively affects the separating power of the packed column (3,4). The Chromalite® M range of resins is notable for the jetting manufacturing process, which ensures tight control over the distribution of particle sizes (5), as shown in Figure 1 in comparison with seeding and suspension polymerisation processes. As can be seen in Figure 1, jetting technology generates a much narrower distribution of particle sizes than suspension polymerisation, with UC generally below 1.3 as opposed to 1.6 for suspension polymer ...
