Separation and quantitation of plasma free fatty acids as phenacyl esters by HPLC

We have developed a rapid method for the separation of plasma free fatty acids as their phenacyl esters by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using a reversed-phase (C18) column. The derivatives of series of both saturated and unsaturated fatty acids (C12:0-C22:6) are simultaneously separated within 45 min and detected with ultraviolet at 241 nm. The limit of detection of fatty acids was approximately 0.5 nmol in 20 microL injected volume of extracts, and the coefficient of variation of the present method did not exceed 3.0%. Comparison of the results of the present HPLC method with those of gas chromatography, gave very good correlations for all fatty acids in human plasma.