Automated strong cation exchange extraction of fatty acid esters of 3-(N-phenylamino)-1,2-propanediol from oil samples for routine quantification by HPLC-APCI/MS/MS

Fatty acid esters of 3-(N-phenylamino)-1,2-propanediol are currently consid ered the best chemical markers of toxic oils related to the Spanish toxic o il syndrome. Recent research in this area has undertaken the exhaustive and quantitative characterization of these compounds in oils collected during the epidemic outbreak. Current methods developed in this laboratory are bas ed on solid phase extraction (SPE) using SCX cartridges followed by HPLC-AP CI/MS/MS quantification. To circumvent the long and tedious extraction proc edure, the SPE protocol was adapted for automatic extraction and the proble ms derived from the use of the immiscible solvents required for the SCX ext raction were solved. Linearity of the analytical method was found in the sa me range as for the manual method. Extraction recoveries were 87 and 75% fo r 2-hydroxy-3-(N-phenylamino)propyl linoleate and 2-(linoleyloxy)-3-(N-phen ylamino)propyl linoleate, respectively, and the corresponding coefficients of variation were similar to1%, greatly improving reproducibility over manu al procedures.