Novel route to preparation of high purity lysoplasmenylethanolamine

A rapid and simple method has been developed for the preparation of highly purified lysoplasmenylethanolamine. The starting material, a phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) sample that contained a mixture of the 1, 2 diacyl- and 1-O-alkenyl-2-acyl forms was subjected to mild alkaline methanolysis for 20 min at room temperature. Addition of chloroform and water with vigorous mixing, but without acidification at this point, led to a preferential retention of the lysoplasmenylethanolamine in the alkaline aqueous phase and complete separation of the methyl esters into the chloroform phase. Neutralization of the alkaline phase with dilute acetic acid, followed by addition of chloroform, allowed recovery of the lysoplasmenylethanolamine in the chloroform phase in very high yields (75-80% based on vinyl ether content of starting material). On the other hand, a preparation of cholineglycerophospholipids enriched in plasmenylcholine, treated in exactly the same manner, gave a lysoplasmenylcholine that was not retained in the alkaline phase, but partitioned primarily into the chloroform-rich phase together with the methyl esters. Characterization of the purified lysoplasmenylethanolamine was achieved by thin-layer chromatography and compositional analysis. In addition, fast atom bombardment mass spectral analysis of the intact lysoplasmenylethanolamine together with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of the dimethyl acetals derived from the 1-O-alkenyl chains allowed further proof of the structure and an assessment of the purity of this compound.