SYNTHESIS AND MASS FRAGMENTATION STUDIES OF PHOTOLABILE PRODUCTS PRESENT IN MARINE AEROSOLS AND MARINE-SEDIMENTS

The involvement of oxidation products of oleic acid (aDELTA9, C18:1 ac id) e.g. methyl 9,10 epoxyoctadecanoic acid and 9 & 10 ketooctadecanoi c acids in the formation of alpha,omega-dicarboxylic acid salts and al pha,omega-dicarboxylic acids in marine aerosols has been suggested rec ently. To examine this postulation, methyl 9,10 epoxydecanoate was syn thesized. This in turn was converted to a mixture of two photo labile products viz. methyl 9-ketooctadecanoate and methyl 10-ketooctadecanoa te by two independent methods. The mass spectral examination of these synthetic compounds (II, III & IV) supports the earlier proposal.