Hydroxy fatty acids of azotobacter agilis

Abstract

Approximately half of the fatty acids recovered after alkaline hydrolysis of the bound lipid of Azotobacter agilis were hydroxy acids. The hydroxy acids were isolated by gas-liquid chromatography and were identified as 3-hydroxydecanoic, 3-hydroxydodecanoic and 2-hydroxydodecanoic acids by the retention volume of the methyl ester in gas-liquid chromatography, by infrared spectrum, and by identification of the products of oxidation by permanganate. The chain length of β-hydroxy fatty acids was confirmed by dehydration-hydrogenation, which gave the expected n-saturated acids.