Gas Chromatographic Determination of Amphetamine in Blood, Tissue, and Urine

Abstract

Amphetamine and phenmetrazine were analyzed in urine by gas chroma tography (GLC) with flame ionization detectors after extraction and conver sion to the trifluoroacetamides. Using 2 ml of urine, the lower limit of the analytical range was 0.1 μg/ml. With higher urine volumes the sensitivity can be increased further. The accuracy at 10 μg/ml was 99.5% ± 9.5 SD for amphetamine and 96.2% ± 2.4 SD for phenmetrazine, based on 6 experiments. Blood levels of amphetamine from 1 ng/ml were measured by GLC with electron capture detection. The drug was extracted into toluene at pH 12 and converted into the trichloroacetamide with trichloroacetyl chloride. The accuracy of the analyses was 97.8% ± 7.2 SD at 20 ng/ml and 99.5% ± 4.9 SD at 200 ng/ml. The values are based on 5 experiments. The same procedure was used for the analysis of amphetamine in cerebrospinal fluid and brain.