NMR Analysis of Non Hydrolyzed Samples of Sodium Alginate

Alginate, a material extracted from brown seaweeds, is a polymer of D-mannuronic acid and Lguluronic acid. The structure of alginate has carboxylic acid functionalities and is water soluble, particularly as the sodium salt, thereby possessing a wide range of commercial uses such as a rheology modifier. Here we report a simple procedure to evaluate some chemical properties of sodium alginate samples by conventional 1D- and 2D NMR experiments using mild conditions and without preliminary partial acidic hydrolysis.