Abstract

Collagen was treated with different sulphonyl chlorides and some of the physico-chemical properties of the modified collagen such as viscosity, dissolution temperature and polyacrylamide disc electrophoretic pattern were studied. The monofunctional sulphonyl chlorides increased the viscosity of the collagen solution, probably due to aggregation of molecules facilitated by hydrophobic bonds. However, the very high viscosity observed in the case of disulphonyl chlorides with collagen indicates that inter-molecular cross-links are formed with these reagents. From dissolution temperatures and polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic patterns, it is considered that disulphonyl chlorides can introduce intra- and inter-molecular cross-links in collagen under suitable conditions.