Determination of morphine in body fluids by high-performance liquid chromatography with chemiluminescence detection

Abstract

HPLC has been used in combination with chemiluminescence detection for the determination of morphine in biological fluids. Solid-liquid extraction procedures for the isolation of morphine from whole blood and urine are described, as is the synthesis of the internal standard, N-ethylnormorphine. Improved selectivity and sensitivity over UV detection is apparent. The procedure has a detection limit of 5 ng of morphine on-column after extraction from blood or urine. The utility of the procedure has been tested on forensic case samples.