One-step conversion of fatty acids into their 2-alkenyl-4,4-dimethyloxazoline derivatives directly from total lipids

Abstract

2-Alkenyl-4,4-dimethyloxazoline derivtives of fatty acids were obtained by direct reaction of 2-amino-2-methylpropanol with oils or total lipid extracts. The yields were similar to those obtained by the formation of oxazoline derivatives from fatty acid methyl esters after transesterification of the starting lipids. The procedure is especially useful in the analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of samples rich in lipids containing α-unsaturated ethers (alkenylglycerols), as it avoids the formation of the corresponding dimethylacetals that can complicate the chromatograms and the mass spectra of the fatty acid oxazoline derivatives.