Chlorotrimethylsilane, a reagent for the direct quantitative analysis of fats and oils present in vegetable and meat samples.

Acylglycerides present in oil seeds and meat can be transformed into volatile fatty esters using chlorotrimethylsilane (CTMS) and 1-pentanol as reagents. The volatile esters can then be analysed by GC. The method is quantitative and involves only minor sample manipulation. It often permits major recoveries of the total saponifiable lipids present in solid samples. A 40 min reaction time is enough to ensure the total conversion of saponifiable lipids to the corresponding FAPEs.