Characterization of aliphatic hyperbranched polyesters by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

In this work, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry was used for the characterization of aliphatic hyperbranched polyesters (AHBP), synthesized from 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)propionic acid (bis-MPA) and di-trimethylolpropane. From the obtained results it was concluded that it was not possible to take complete advantages of MALDI-TOF MS in this particular case, since the AHBP used in this work were polydisperse. The intensity of the signals from the high mass tail of these samples (pseudo generation higher than four) was underestimated and insufficient to distinguish it from the baseline and to use it for the analysis of the spectra. As a consequence of that, lower values of the Mn were obtained. At the same time, Mw were also underestimated, which led to very low values of the polydispersity index. On the other hand, it was possible to obtain molar masses of individual molecules from the MALDI-TOF mass spectra of AHBP and to qualitatively determine the extent of cyclization (side reactions) at each degree of polymerization. Using the adequate set of equations and results obtained from MALDI-TOF mass spectra of AHBP, every signal from the spectra was identified. The obtained results show that formation of poly(bis-MPA), intramolecular esterification and intramolecular etherification occurred as side reactions during the synthesis of these polyesters. The relative amount of the cycles increases with the number of pseudo generation (from the second up to the fifth pseudo generation). It was also observed that the relative proportion of the signals which represent cyclic structures increases with the increasing degree of polymerization. In this work the basic principles of MALDI-TOF MS are also presented, as well as, a review of adequate published articles.