# Compositional Characterization of Syngas-Based Glycolide Using Gas Chromatogram-Mass Spectrometry and Electrospray Ionization High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry

## TL;DR

This paper describes a method to analyze and refine glycolide, a key material for biodegradable polymers, using advanced mass spectrometry techniques.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel use of Kendrick Mass Defect for classifying PGA compounds without needing exact molecular formulas.

## Key findings

- GC-MS and Orbitrap MS revealed cyclic and linear PGAs with different capped ends in the production process.
- Methyl-capped PGA impurities can be removed via solvent washing to obtain refined glycolide.
- Kendrick Mass Defect analysis enables direct classification of PGA compounds from mass spectrometry data.

## Abstract

Polyglycolic acid (PGA) is a biologically friendly material with a wide range of applications. The production of dimethyl oxalate using coal-based syngas and the hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate can produce the polymerization raw material of PGA, glycolide, which requires a methyl glycolate polymerization and depolymerization process. The intermediate products of the production process were analyzed using gas chromatogram-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and Orbitrap mass spectrometry (Orbitrap MS), which revealed the presence of cyclic and linear PGAs with different capped ends. The impurities present in the oligomer were mostly methyl-capped PGA and were retained in the subsequent depolymerization process to glycolide, solvent washing can be used to remove this part of the impurity and ultimately obtain a refined glycolide product. Furthermore, it is proposed that the use of the specialized Kendrick Mass Defect (KMD) to plot and analyze PGA compounds obtained using mass spectrometry can enable the direct classification of PGAs without the need for exact molecular formula assignment.