Carboxylic acid volatile short chain

In contrast to the other large cats, the urine of the cheetah, A. jubatus, is practically odorless to the human nose. An analysis of the organic material from cheetah urine showed that diglycerides, triglycerides, and free sterols are possibly present in the urine and that it contains some of the C2-C8 fatty acids [95], while aldehydes and ketones that are prominent in tiger and leopard urine [96] are absent from cheetah urine. A recent study [97] of the chemical composition of the urine of cheetah in their natural habitat and in captivity has shown that volatile hydrocarbons, aldehydes, saturated and unsaturated cyclic and acyclic ketones, carboxylic acids and short-chain ethers are compound classes represented in minute quantities by more than one member in the urine of this animal. Traces of 2-acetylfuran, acetaldehyde diethyl acetal, ethyl acetate, dimethyl sulfone, formanilide, and larger quantities of urea and elemental sulfur were also present in the urine of this animal. Sulfur was found in all the urine samples collected from male cheetah in captivity in South Africa and from wild cheetah in Namibia. Only one organosulfur compound, dimethyl disulfide, is present in the urine at such a low concentration that it is not detectable by humans [97]. 

When fats or oils are exposed to air, they react with the oxygen or water vapor to form short-chain carboxylic acids. The short-chain acids are volatile and have unpleasant smells and tastes. For example, the strong smell and sour taste of vinegar are due to acetic acid, a two-carbon carboxylic acid. The oxidation process is called rancidification and can make foods unpalatable. The characteristic smell of rancid butter is due to the presence of butyric acid (a four-carbon acid). (Rancidity can also be the result of the hydrolysis of fats or oils.)... 

Essential oils are obtained from fruits and dowers (61,62). Volatile esters of short- and medium-chain carboxylic acids or aromatic carboxylic acids with short- and medium-chain alcohols are primary constituents of essential oils, eg, ethyl acetate in wines, brandy, and in fruits such as pineapple benzyl acetate in jasmine and gardenia methyl salicylate in oils of wintergreen and sweet birch. Most of these naturally occurring esters in essential oils have pleasant odors, and either they or their synthetic counterparts are used in the confectionery, beverage, perfume, cosmetic, and soap industries (see Oils,... 

The carboxylic acids can be subdivided into nonvolatile fatty acids, volatile fatty acids, hydroxy acids, dicarboxylic acids, and aromatic acids (Fig. 3). The nonvolatile fatty acids are molecules with more than five carbon atoms, such as stearic and palmitic acids, which are the degradation products of fats and triglycerides. Three different 18-C fatty acids that are important constituents of plants include oleic and linoleic acids that are abundant in plant seeds, and linolenic acid, which is abundant in plant leaves. Volatile fatty acids are short-chain molecules with one to five carbon atoms, such as acetic and valeric acid, associated with anaerobic metabolism. The hydroxy-acids are common intermediates in biochemical pathways, including the tricarboxylic acid cycle. The excretion of hydroxyacids by algae, such as the... 

For sufficient retention of these very polar sulfonated carboxylates on RP columns, the addition of an ion-pairing (IP) agent such as tetraethylammonium acetate (TEAA) to the LC buffer was compulsory [13]. To maintain the compatibility of the eluent with the MS interface, the use of such an involatile cationic additive entailed a cation exchanger to be placed between the column and the interface [13]. Alternatively, equimolar amounts (5 mM) of acetic acid and triethyl-amine, which form the volatile IP agent triethylammonium, were added to the mobile phase in order to improve the retardation of very polar SPC [14]. While the first approach with TEAA was effective in retaining even the very short-chain C3- and C4-SPC (Fig. 2.10.4), the weaker IP agent triethylammonium notably increased the retention of C5-SPC and higher, whereas C4-SPC elutes almost with the dead volume of the LC (Fig. 2.10.5). Addition of commonly used ammonium acetate as buffer component led to the co-elution of the short-chain SPC ([Pg.322]

Esters for the selective and sensitive detection of carboxylic acids contain atoms or functional groups for which the detector is specific. As with substances of other types, preferably derivatives containing halogens are used for electron-capture detection. Karmen [151] suggested 2-chloroethyl esters for specific detection with the aid of the alkali FID. They are much less volatile than methyl or ethyl esters, and are therefore interesting for the analysis of short-chain fatty acids. GC separation was carried out on EGA polyester or SE-30. 

Aliphatic framework molecules most common in organic acids include alkanes (saturated hydrocarbons) and alkenes (unsaturated hydrocarbons). These saturated and unsaturated aliphatic carboxylic acids may be acyclic (straight or branched chains) or alicyclic (aliphatic rings). Acyclic aliphatic monocarboxylic acids are also referred to as fatty acids (Table 1). The first five saturated acids (formic to valeric) of this type are sometimes referred to as short-chain, low-molecular-weight, or volatile fatty acids. Although a nomenclature for these acids has been established by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (lUPAC), the convention of using the trivial names for the first five saturated acids has remained. Similarly, trivial names are used for the aliphatic dicarboxylic acids (Table 2) that are saturated with two to four carbon atoms (C2-C4) and unsaturated with four carbon atoms (C4). Alicyclic carboxylic acids contain one or more saturated or partially unsaturated rings. These acids most commonly occur... 

Alternative procedures for the determination of short-chain carboxylic acids involve the direct injection of the acidified physiological fluid into the gas chromatograph (Van den Berg and Hommes, 1974) or the release of the free acids from their salts by mixing urine with Dowex 50 (H ) followed by injection of the supernatant into the chromatograph (Chalmers, 1974 Chalmers etal., 1974a). The latter method enables the simultaneous determination of neutral volatile components, for example, acetone, butanone, methanol and ethanol, and the determination of a variety of volatile acids, alcohols, aldehydes and ketones by this procedure. 

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