Determination of morphine in urine by gas chromatography

Screening and confirmation of opiates by thin-layer chromatography

A thin-layer chromatography (TLC) procedure for the screening and confirmation of urinary codeine and morphine has been developed. Urine samples are hydrolyzed to liberate free codeine and morphine, extracted into an organic solvent, and concentrated. For screening, the extraction residues are spotted on TLC plates which are developed in chloroform:ethyl acetate:methanol:propylamine (35:45:5:5). For confirmation, the extraction residues are acetylated and then spotted on TLC plates which are developed in hexane:chloroform:diethylamine (50:30:7). The spots for the two drugs are visualized with acidified iodoplatinate. Codeine and morphine are well separated from one another and from normal urinary substances on both plates and can be detected at a concentration of 0.4 micrograms/mL.

Quantitative determination of morphine in biological samples by gas-liquid chromatography and electron-capture detection

A highly sensitive method for the determination of morphine in plasma and brain samples down to 500 pg ml-1 in plasma and 100 pg in 30 mg of brain tissue is described. This sensitivity is in the range of that described for radioactive and radioimmunological tehcniques. The samples (50-500 mu-l) are extracted with toluene-butanol (9:1) at pH 8.9 and then re-extracted into 0.1 N sulphuric acid and back extracted to a toluene-butanol phase at pH 8.9. The pentafluoropropionic anhydride derivatives of morphine and the internal standard nalorphine were quantitatively determined by gas-liquid chromatography with a 3-H electron capture detector.