Comparison of six methylation methods for analysis of the fatty acid composition of albacore lipid

Six methods widely used to produce methyl esters for the gas chromatographic determination of the fatty acid composition of a marine lipid were compared. Four acid-catalyzed methods (1% H₂SO₄: CH₃OH; 5% HCl: CH₃OH; 7% and 14% BF₃: CH₃OH) and two base-catalyzed methods 0.5M NaOCH₃: CH₃OH; (1:4) tetramethylguanidine: CH₃OH] were used.
The use of BF₃: CH₃OH (7% and 14%) gave a lower content of 18:1 n9 than the other methods and produced an artefact (2.7–3.2% of total fatty acid content) eluting between the 20:5 and 24:1 fatty acid methyl esters. No significant differences were obtained between the other four methods.
Accordingly the use of BF₃: CH₃OH for transmethylation of marine lipids is not recommended. Results obtained in the other four methods showed that all are comparable.