Determination of trace levels of fatty acid metal salts by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence prelabeling

A simple method is described for picomole determinations of fatty acid metal salts. Fatty acid salts are directly labeled with 4-bromomethyl-7-methoxycoumarin in the presence of excess ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid tripotassium salt without any solvent extractions. The fluorescence derivatives of fatty acids are separated by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography followed by fluorometric detection. The response of each fatty acid (C₈-C₁₈) calcium salt is linear from 1 to 50 μg/ml of samples. The detection limit is about 7 pmol. Good recoveries are obtained for the calcium salts of myrystic acid and soap (C₈-C₁₈, C_18:1,2). The new method is successfully applied to the study on biodegradation of fatty acids in river water.