Waxes of the social spider Anelosimus eximius (Araneae, Theridiidae): Abundance of novel n-propyl esters of long-chain methyl-branched fatty acids
✍ Scribed by Anne-geneviève Bagnères; Marie Trabalon; Gary J. Blomquist; Stefan Schulz
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 230 KB
- Volume
- 36
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0739-4462
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The pentane extract of the social spider, Anelosimus eximius (Araneae, Theridiidae), contains hydrocarbons, fatty acids and their methyl esters, and a series of novel propyl esters of long-chain methyl-branched fatty acids. The propyl esters comprise almost three-fourths of the extract and consist predominantly of odd-numbered carbon chain components. Mass spectrometric analyses of the propyl esters, their methyl esters and cyanide derivatives showed that mono-, di-and trimethyl branched components with methyl branches on even numbered carbons predominate. The major components are propyl 4,20-and 4,30dimethylhentriacontanoate and propyl 6,20-and 6,30-trimethylhentriacontanoate. The hydrocarbon fraction consists of n-, monomethyl-and dimethylalkanes, containing a relatively high proportion of even-numbered carbon chain components. The abundance of even-numbered carbon chain length alkanes and odd-numbered carbon chain length fatty acyl groups, along with abundant methylbranches suggest that the propionyl-CoA and its carboxylated product, methylmalonyl-CoA, play important roles in the biosynthesis of these unique waxes. Arch.