Hydroxy fatty acids from cerebrosides of the central nervous system: GLC determination and mass spectrometric identification.

A method has been developed for GLC determination of hydroxy fatty acids (HFA) from cerebrosides of the central nervous system.Identification of HFA present in complex biological mixtures was achieved by the use of the combination gas chromatography- mass spectrometry. GLC separations and mass spectrometric determinations were carried out on the trimethylsilyl derivatives of HFA, which show excellent GLC characteristics and favorable cleavages to determine the position of OH groups on the aliphatic chain. The mass spectra of these derivatives present some unusual rearrangement ions, whose composition has been studied with the aid of deuterium labeled analogs.