STUDY OF WAX ESTERS FROM NATURAL ORIGIN B Y FRAGMENTOMETRY

We improved a method by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy, allowing to identify quickly and regulary different kinds of wax esters from n atural origin. To do so, we used a very short capillary column (5 m), which before was linked to a melted silica tube unactived (Im long., 2 00 microns I.D.) which was itself connected to the spectrometer interf ace. This method allows to avoid the loss of vacuum in the mass spectr ometer and to get mass spectra (E.I. 70 eV) which can be perfectly rep roducible and easily interpreted. Indeed, only the molecular ions M+. and the key fragments RCO2H2+ corresponding to the acid part of wax es ters are really present. There is no particular problem, interpreting mass spectra although the different wax esters are generally made of m any isomer groups.