The analysis and identification of steroids

In October 1987, anabolic steroids were controlled under Schedule IV of Florida State Statute 893. This study was designed to establish a method of analysis and identification of evidentiary cases. Spot tests, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS), Fourier transform nuclear magnetic resonance (FT-NMR), thin-layer chromatography (TLC), and extractions were performed on standard and pharmaceutical steroids. Mandelin's accompanied by the sulfuric acid test was found to provide the best indication of a steroid among the following four spot tests performed: sulfuric acid, napthol-sulfuric acid, Liebermann's, and Mandelin's. TLC was successfully performed on the steroid samples using two different eluent systems: TP and TQ. GC/MS was a very useful method of analysis applicable to most steroids, with only a few exceptions. FT-IR spectra were found to match the spectra from the literature for all the standards tested. The combination of the above techniques was used successfully to identify all the standards tested.