Patent ID: 7439074

Claim:
A method of quantification of alcohol(s) in a sample comprising the steps of: a) synthesizing a stable isotope labeled ester internal standard of said alcohol, wherein the ester is selected from a group consisting of R 1 OCOR 4 , R 1 CH 2 OCOR 4 , R 1 R 2 CHOCOR 4 , and R 1 R 2 R 3 OCOR 4 where R 1 , R 2 , and R 3 are alkyl, aryl, and heteroatom containing cyclic or non-cyclic groups, and R 4 is a stable isotope labeled alkyl or aryl group, by reacting an authentic sample of said alcohol with a stable isotope labeled reagent; b) combining a known amount of the synthesized stable isotope labeled ester internal standard of said alcohol with said sample comprising said alcohol; c) contacting said combined sample and the internal standard with an acid anhydride or an acid chloride to quantitatively convert said alcohol in said sample into an ester of identical structure as that of said stable isotope labeled ester internal standard except for the stable isotope atoms, wherein there is no conversion of said stable isotope labeled ester internal standard to its corresponding non-labeled ester compound; d) extracting said ester and said stable isotope labeled ester internal standard from said combined sample; e) quantifying said ester by isotope dilution mass spectrometric method using said stable isotope labeled ester internal standard; and, f) calculating the amount of said alcohol in said sample from the amount of said ester.