Validation of a straightforward high performance liquid chromatographic method for morphine quantitation

Morphine is illegal to use unless it is prescribed by a medical doctor. This compound is commonly abused in the form of illicit heroin.

An easy-to-use method for determining morphine in illicit heroin using high performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detector (HPLC-PDA) was developed. With the aid of 50:50 acetonitrile:ammonium formate, this target compound traveling in a pentafluorophenyl (PFP) column was successfully separated from other compounds frequently present in the heroin matrix.

The method was precise with an intra-day relative standard deviation (RSD) ≤ 0.8% and inter-day RSD < 5%. It was able to detect as low as 0.001 mg/mL morphine. The detector's response was linear (R² > 0.999) and reliable for morphine quantitation from 0.005 up to 1 mg/mL. Through recovery studies, accuracy of the method was averagely estimated to be 89.54-101.91%.

This method saves time in terms of mobile phase preparation and cuts cost by excluding additional purchase of expensive chemicals. More importantly, it proves to be able to determine the target analyte with sufficient accuracy and precision.