Selected aspects of the development of methods for the analysis of drugs by high performance liquid chromatography

The successful analysis of drugs in biological fluids and other matrices by reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (h.p.l.c.) relies upon the optimization of the chromatographic separation, the sample preparation and the post-column detection. Recent advances in the detection and derivatisation of exogenous substances are described elsewhere in this volume (Sternson 1986). This paper deals with selected aspects of the optimization of the chromatographic separation, concentrating on the theoretical basis and practical application of mobile phase selectivity in reversed phase ion-pair systems. In addition, recent advances in sample preparation techniques which permit the direct injection of biological fluids are discussed.