Fatty acids (FAs) are essential biomolecules in the body that generate fuel.  Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) are common transformation products of fatty acids, present in biodiesel, various consumer products, and as a common derivatization product of FAs for gas chromatography.  The long chain components of these compounds can contain variable degrees of saturation and unsaturation, the differentiation of which can be critical for assessing health benefits or other biological functions.  Gas chromatography � mass spectrometry is the gold standard for analysis of FAs and FAMEs; however, the differentiation of many isomeric species requires specialized columns, as the mass spectrometry detector does not provide sufficient specificity.  Here we demonstrate the ability of gas chromatography - vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) spectroscopy to differentiate cis/trans isomers (e.g. elaidic vs. oleic acid), as well as positional isomers (e.g., 18:1 fatty acids) based on their retention and absorption in the 115 � 215 nm wavelength range. The analysis of standards as well as real world samples, such as rapeseed oil demonstrates that less effort is needed to chromatographically separate different species of interest, due to the greater specificity of the VUV detector.

Differentiation and determination of fatty acids and fatty acid methyl esters by gas chromatography � vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy

248th National Meeting (2014)

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