[High-pressure liquid chromatography of free and conjugated 17-ketosteroids (author's transl)]

High-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) should be used more frequently in biomedical research because heavy molecules can be analysed at ambient temperature without derivatisation to volatile compounds. In this paper the separation of four free 17-ketosteroids, their ester sulfates and glucuronides by reversed-phase HPLC on a Micropak CH column is described. In order to improve the separation several parameters have been studied. Retention data allow comparison of the hydrophilic behaviour of free and conjugated steroids.