Analysis of Phospholipids by High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Phospholipids are amphipathic molecules of great importance and widespread in biological material. They play an essential role in the structure and function of biological membranes. They are classified according to the nature of the “backbone” residue (glycerol or sphingosine), the type of nitrogenous base (or hexahydric alcohol) attached to it, and the nature of the chemical bonds (ester or ester and ether) linking the hydrocarbon chains to the backbone molecule. Within the same class, an enormous number of subclasses is possible through variation in the number of carbon atoms in the hydrocarbon chains, their degree of unsaturation, and, in the case of the glycerophos-pholipids, the position (C1 or C2) of the particular fatty acid (or ether) residues on the glycerol backbone. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has emerged as one of the most powerful and versatile forms of separation technique that can be applied to the efficient separation and determination of phospholipids.