Application of open-tubular column/gas-liquid chromatography to the analysis of complex mixtures of branched-chain fatty acids

Methyl and butyl esters of branched-chain fatty acids of subcutaneous triacylglycerols from barley-fed lambs were subjected to urea-adduction and the resulting fractions were analyzed as methyl esters by gas-liquid chromatography on wall-coated open-tubular columns. The chromatogram of each fraction was less complex than that of the original and there was evidence to suggest that, in the original mixture of branched-chain acids, components resistant to urea-adduction were present, but their occurrence was obscured in chromatograms by the presence of monomethyl-substituted acids.