Separation and identification of an oligomeric light stabilizer Chimassorb 944 by gradient elution chromatography coupled with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

A non-aqueous reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method has been developed to separate a light stabilizer Chimassorb 944 into individual oligomers, which are further identified using pre-column fluorescent derivatization and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). Consistent with previous studies, we find that the Chimassorb 944 product is a complex mixture consisting of a homologous series with the amine end groups and the number of repeat units (n) span from 1 to 26. In addition to the dominant linear species, cyclic oligomers are present at relatively high levels in the low-mass range. Their concentration decreases rapidly with the length of the oligomer backbone and becomes undetectable when n > 7. Moreover, comparison of the HPLC and MALDI-MS molar mass distributions of Chimassorb 944 shows that the HPLC analysis produces greater molar mass averages and thus offers an effective means for accurate measure of the relative abundances of the oligomers.