APPLICATION OF PAIRED-ION HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY TO THE SEPARATION OF MOLECULAR-SPECIES OF PHOSPHATIDYLINOSITOL

A paired-ion high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) procedure was developed for the separation of individual molecular species of phosphatidylinositol (PI) without prior derivatization. The separation is accomplished on a reverse-phase column using acetonitrile, methanol and 10 mM tetrabutylammonium phosphate as mobile phase. Separation of the major molecular species of soybean PI by HPLC is achieved within 60 min. The method is applicable to analytical and metabolic studies on PI and has the advantage that the entire PI structure is preserved, as no degradation or derivatization procedures are involved.