Determination of the complete structure of natural lecithins

Abstract

A method is described for the separation, identification, and quantitative estimation of the individual molecular species occurring in natural lecithin mixtures. Purified lecithin preparations are converted into diglyceride acetates by enzymic dephosphorylation and acetylation. The diglyceride acetates are separated on the basis of the degree of unsaturation and the molecular geometry by means of chromatography on thin layers of silica gel which are impregnated with silver nitrate. The various acetates thus resolved are separately recovered from the plates and diluted with tridecanoin internal standard; the quantitative distribution of the molecular weights is determined by gas chromatography. Suitable aliquots of the saturated and unsaturated diglyceride acetates are further analyzed for over-all and for positional distribution of fatty acids. The identity and proportions of the various lecithins are deduced by integration and normalization of all the experimental data. Where doubt exists, specific diglyceride acetates are isolated by preparative gas chromatography, and their fatty acid composition is determined. The method is illustrated with data obtained for the mixed lecithins of egg yolk. The general approach is applicable to the determination of the structure of other phospholipids of comparable complexity.