Mass Spectrometry of Fatty Acid Derivatives

These pages deal with the application of mass spectrometry with electron-impact ionization to determine the structures of fatty acids in the form of various derivatives. If you are new to the subject, you may wish to consult our 'Beginner's guide' first. PDF files can be easily downloaded from a link at the end of documents to give you an instantly accessible record.

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Tutorials on the Interpretation of Mass Spectra of Fatty Acid Derivatives and Related Lipids
The Basics Introduction Preparation of derivatives (picolinyl esters, DMOX, pyrrolidides) - updated 11/4/08 Preparation of methyl esters Pre-concentration of minor components - updated 14/4/08 Dimethyloxazolines (DMOX) of fatty acids Saturated and branched-chain Monoenoic - updated 6/5/08 Dienoic Trienoic Tetra- to hexaenoic Pyrrolidine derivatives of fatty acids Saturated and branched-chain - updated 6/5/08 Monoenoic - updated 6/5/08 Dienoic Polyenoic	Methyl esters of fatty acids Saturated Branched Monoenoic - updated 6/5/08 Dienoic - updated 20/4/08 Trienoic Tetra- to hexaenoic - with derivatization of the double bonds - updated 21/4/08 Picolinyl esters of fatty acids Saturated and branched-chain Monoenoic Dienoic Trienoic - updated 25/4/08 Tetraenoic Penta- and hexaenoic
Miscellaneous substituted fatty acids (various derivatives) and other lipids
Natural cyclic fatty acids Acetylenic acids Oxygenated. 1A. 2- to 8-Hydroxy acids Oxygenated. 1B. 10- to ω-OH Oxygenated. 2. Heterocyclic and alkoxy Oxygenated. 3. Oxo (keto) Allenic fatty acids Thia acids	Halogenated acids Dibasic acids - 23/4/07 Fatty alcohols. 1. Nicotinates Fatty alcohols. 2. Other derivatives Miscellaneous lipophilic compounds (free acids, acetals, alkyl esters, cholesterol, etc) Miscellaneous artefacts and additives
Archives of Mass Spectra All our mass spectra (over 1720 in total) are made available for study or reference here but without interpretation.
Methyl esters of fatty acids - Archive Picolinyl esters - Archive DMOX derivatives - Archive	Pyrrolidine derivatives - Archive Miscellaneous fatty acid derivatives, lipids, artefacts, etc - Archive
Bibliography of Mass Spectra: Lists of references to the use of mass spectrometry for structural analysis of fatty acids and for intact lipids - see our literature survey menu.

Scottish Castle All the mass spectra illustrated in these pages were obtained by electron-impact ionization at an ionization potential of 70 eV on quadrupole mass spectrometers, either Agilent (Hewlett Packard) Mass Selective Detectors or their MS Engine. Mass spectra were output from the Agilent instrument software as Windows metafiles, and then annotated using Metafile Companion™ (Companion Software Inc.). Chemical formulae were drawn with ChemWindows™ (SoftShell International Ltd).

Acknowledgements: This information is published as part of a program funded by the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department. I am grateful to Elizabeth Brechany of the Hannah Research Institute (Ayr) and Graeme Robertson of the Scottish Crop Research Institute who obtained many of the spectra. Gary Dobson, Tom Shepherd and Charlie Scrimgeour of SCRI contributed also. Jack Hamilton of the Food Science Division (Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland, Belfast) rescued many of my mass spectrometry files from an obsolete storage medium, and has been an invaluable collaborator. Many colleagues and scientific collaborators contributed to our research efforts in this area and they will be cited in the above pages. However, I must especially mention R.T. Holman (U.S.A.), M.S.F. Lie Ken Jie (Hong Kong), R.L. Wolff (France), J.L. Sebedio (France), Y.-G. Joh (Korea), N. Tsevegsuren (Mongolia) and K. Stefanov (Bulgaria).

If you have queries, contact me by e-mail at - william.christie@scri.ac.uk

Scottish Crop Research Institute (and MRS Lipid Analysis Unit), Invergowrie, Dundee (DD2 5DA), Scotland

Lipid Library

The Lipid Library

Mass Spectrometry of Fatty Acid Derivatives

Tutorials on the Interpretation of Mass Spectra of Fatty Acid Derivatives and Related Lipids

The Basics

Dimethyloxazolines (DMOX) of fatty acids

Pyrrolidine derivatives of fatty acids

Methyl esters of fatty acids

Picolinyl esters of fatty acids

Miscellaneous substituted fatty acids (various derivatives) and other lipids

Archives of Mass Spectra