Single step thin-layer chromatographic method for quantitation of enzymatic formation of fatty acid anilides

The activity of the enzyme involved in catalyzing the formation of fatty acid anilides can be measured by quantitating the fatty acid anilides formed. We have shown earlier that oleic acid is the most preferred substrate among other fatty acids studied for the conjugation with aniline. The reaction product (oleyl anilide) could be separated by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and then quantified by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Using [1-(14)C]oleic acid as substrate, the fatty acid anilide forming activity can be determined in a single step by TLC analysis. The conventional TLC methods used for the separation of the fatty acid esters, however, could not resolve oleyl anilide from the residual [1-(14)C]oleic acid. Therefore, a simple and reliable TLC method was developed for the separation of oleyl anilide from oleic acid using a freshly prepared solvent consisting of petroleum ether-ethyl acetate-ammonium hydroxide (80:20:1, v/v). Using this solvent system the relative flow (Rf) values were found to be 0.54 for oleyl anilide and 0.34 for aniline, whereas oleic acid remained at the origin. The TLC procedure developed in the present study could be used to determine the fatty acid anilide forming activity using [1-(14)C]oleic or other fatty acids as substrate and was also found suitable for the analysis of fatty acid anilides from the biological samples.