Determination of the average molecular weight of hydroxyethyl starches by diffusion-ordered NMR spectroscopy

A correlation equation is obtained for the evaluation of the average molecular weight (MW) of hydroxyethyl starches from the self-diffusion coefficient D measured using diffusion-ordered NMR spectroscopy. Correlation equations MW = cD −α are compared for hydroxyethyl starches, dextrans, and pullulans. It has been demonstrated that different MWs correspond to constant D values of uncharged polysaccharides with the similar type of nonvalent interactions and different degrees of branching.