COOH or Ester?

[GBALA]

I am trying hard to decode a structure of my compound. After a lot of efforts, reading and going through various spectras I got some picture of this compound that it could be a hydroxy fatty acid or ester. It would be grateful if someone tells me how the peak value at 2.29 ppm in the H-NMR spectrum either can be assigned to that of CH2COOH or CH2COO. The integration values are not conclusive. The peak is triplet. Thank you in advance.

Edited September 24, 2013 by GBALA

[spirochete27]

The difference between the CH2 peaks in an acid or an ester probably would not be that different. However the acid would have a distinctly different IR spectrum and you would also see a (possibly very broad) peak in the NMR for the acidic hydrogen very far downfield.

Edited October 6, 2013 by spirochete27