THE QUANTITATIVE DETERMINATION OF NARCOTICS ION EXCHANGE

Abstract

Codeine phosphate, amorphine sulphate, methorphinan hydrobromide, and the hydrochlorides of methadone, phenadoxone, alphaprodine, cocaine, pethidine, diamorphine, dilaudid, morphine, and papaverine were quantitatively determined with a precision of ±1.6% by ion exchange chromatography. The method was found to be applicable to pharmaceutical preparations and narcotic seizures, provided these did not contain additional ionizing constituents. Use of a solvent system in which the free base remained dissolved throughout the entire process was an important factor in the analysis. The dissociation constants of the narcotics in the solvent systems used are also reported.