Carbon–carbon double bond position elucidation in fatty acids using ozone-coupled direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry

The carbon–carbon double bond positions of unsaturated fatty acids can have markedly different effects on biological function and also serve as biomarkers of disease pathology, dietary history, and species identity. As such, there is great interest in developing methods for the facile determination of double bond position for natural product chemistry, the pharmaceutical industry, and forensics. We paired ozonolysis with direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART MS) to cleave and rapidly identify carbon–carbon double bond position in fatty acids, fatty alcohols, wax esters, and crude fatty acid extracts. In addition, ozone exposure time and DART ion source temperature were investigated to identify optimal conditions. Our results reveal that brief, offline exposure to ozone-generated aldehyde and carboxylate products that are indicative of carbon–carbon double bond position. The relative abundance of diagnostic fragments quantitatively reflects the ratios of isobaric fatty acid positional isomers in a mixture with a correlation coefficient of 0.99. Lastly, the unsaturation profile generated from unfractionated, fatty acid extracts can be used to differentiate insect species and populations. The ability to rapidly elucidate lipid double bond position by combining ozonolysis with DART MS will be useful for lipid structural elucidation, assessing isobaric purity, and potentially distinguishing between animals fed on different diets or belonging to different ecological populations.