Identification of the free acids and neutral compounds of peat waxes by ion-exchange chromatography and IR spectroscopy

A method is proposed for identifying the free acids and neutral fraction of waxes by ion-exchange chromatography and IR spectroscopy. The possibility has been shown of determining the amount of acid in the neutral fraction of the waxes and the purity of the acid fractions from the IR spectra of dilute solutions (10/sup -2/ - 10/sup -4/ M). The absorption bands of free hydroxy groups of monomeric acids at 3530 cm/sup -1/ and of alcohols at 3610 cm/sup -1/ have been selected as analytic bands.