Recent progress in the applications of infrared absorption spectroscopy to lipid chemistry

Scores of other applications of infrared spectra to problems of lipid chemistry could be cited. No useful purpose would be served by a somewhat repetitious listing of the many applications which have been reported. An attempt has been made to select applications that would represent the various ways in which infrared absorption spectroscopy is being used for and by the fatty acid chemist. A review of this nature a decade ago could easily have included a complete bibliography with reference to all papers which appeared within the period covered. This is no longer practical as infrared spectroscopy has become a major tool of the lipid chemist. In this review the reports by several workers of very excellent research contributions have not been included. During the past five years several review papers have appeared. In the second edition of Markley舗s 舠Fatty Acids舡 the subject of infrared absorption is covered to about 1958 (95). In German and excellent review has been written by Kaufmann, Volbert, and Mankel (60), including 249 literature references and again covering the period through about 1958.