Conjugated linoleic and linolenic acids (CLA and CLnA) can be found in dairy, ruminant meat and oilseeds, these types of unsaturated fatty acids consist of various positional and geometrical isomers, and have demonstrated health-promoting potential for human beings. Extensive reviews have reported the physiological effects of CLA, CLnA, while little is known regarding their isomer-specific effects. However, the isomers are difficult to identify, owing to (i) the similar retention time in common chromatographic methods; and (ii) the isomers are highly sensitive to high temperature, pH changes, and oxidation. The uncertainties in molecular structure have hindered investigations on the physiological effects of CLA and CLnA. Therefore, this review presents a summary of the currently available technologies for the structural determination of CLA and CLnA, including the presence confirmation, double bond position determination, and the potential stereo-isomer determination. Special focus has been projected to the novel techniques for structure determination of CLA and CLnA. Some possible future directions are also proposed.

共轭亚油酸和亚麻酸（CLA和CLnA）可以在乳制品，反刍动物的肉和油料种子中找到，这些类型的不饱和脂肪酸由各种位置和几何异构体组成，并已证明对人类具有促进健康的潜力。广泛的评论报道了CLA，CLnA的生理作用，但对它们的异构体特异性作用知之甚少。但是，由于以下原因，异构体很难鉴定：（i）通用色谱方法中的保留时间相似；（ii）异构体对高温，pH变化和氧化高度敏感。分子结构的不确定性阻碍了对CLA和CLnA生理效应的研究。因此，这篇综述总结了目前可用于CLA和CLnA结构确定的技术，包括存在确认，双键位置确定和潜在的立体异构体确定。已经特别关注用于确定CLA和CLnA的结构的新技术。还提出了一些可能的未来方向。