Detection of short-chain alpha-hydroxyaldehydic compounds as pentafluorbenzyloxime derivatives in bovine liver.

Pentafluorbenzyloxime derivatization allows fast, gentle and unambiguous identification of alpha-hydroxyaldehydic lipid peroxidation products via GC/MS in biological material. Even 1.5 g of a bovine liver sample is sufficient to detect short-chain 2-hydroxyalkanales resulting from cleavage reactions of dioxygenated fatty acids. Quantification is achieved after secondary derivatization with N-methyl-N-t-butyldimethylsilyltrifluoracetamide (M-t-BSTFA) by mass spectrometry using characteristic ion traces of the derivatives. In addition, the corresponding (n-1)-hydroxy-n-oxo acids, previously unknown in biological material, could be detected.