Determination of Amphetamine, Methamphetamine, and Related Amines in Blood and Urine by Gas Chromatography with Hydrogen-Flame Ionization Detector

A sensitive gas-chromatographic method suitable for clinical and forensic purposes is presented for measuring methamphetamine, amphetamine, and other phenethylamines in blood and urine. When testing blood, we include a known quantity of a homologous standard, n-propylamphetamine hydrochloride, in the tungstic-acid solution used to precipitate blood proteins; the acid filtrate is washed, alkalinized, and extracted with ether. Extracted phenethylamines are converted to the corresponding acetamides, which are then concentrated and gas-chromatographed. The method for urine is similar except the known quantity of n-propylamphetamine hydrochloride is added to the sample, the protein precipitation is omitted, and chloroform is the extracting solvent. Suitable tests are described for the more stringent confirmation of amphetamine and methamphetamine required for court testimony. Retention data obtained from both a polar and a nonpolar column packing are presented for over 50 compounds related to phenethylamine.