Fatty acid analysis

[GT]

Dear all,
I have to analyze a mixture of stearic and palmitic acid to determine the relative composition of the mixture. I can't use a GC method so can I make this with HPLC plus DAD detector ?
Any kind of suggestion will be appreciate.
Thanks
GT

[Consumer Products Guy]

We usually use GC for this, as methyl esters. For HPLC we have used 4-phenylacetophenone derivatives: see Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 47, No. 14, pp. 2437-2439 (Dec. 1975).

[Daren]

you can separate and detect stearic and palmitic acid with RP and ELSD detection. You won't see much signal with UV.