Chromatographic separation of plasmalogenic, alkyl-acyl, and diacyl forms of ethanolamine glycerophosphatides

The plasmalogenic, alkyl-acyl, and diacyl forms of ethanolamine glycerophosphatides were completely separated from each other as methylated dinitrophenyl derivatives by thin-layer chromatography on Silica Gel G. The relatively high resolving power needed was obtained by multiple unidimensional development with solvents that give very low mobility to the lipids. Under these conditions the plasmalogens moved fastest, the alkyl-acyl lipids were intermediate, and the diacyl lipids were the slowest. The presence of all these forms of lipids in the ethanolamine phosphatides of hen's eggs, ox brain, and human blood plasma could be directly demonstrated with the new method.