Preparation of the even-numbered 3-oxo fatty acid nicotinyl esters from C6:0 to C18:0

Abstract

Here, we report a systematic comparison of different methods for the transesterification of 3-oxo fatty acid alkyl esters to the corresponding nicotinyl esters. A simple method producing the target esters in high yields and purity has been developed. Nicotinyl esters are of interest for mass spectrometry analysis of fatty acids. Also, the hydrophilic head group of nicotinyl esters can be used as the basis for the preparation of liposome-building molecules.