title: Packed-column supercritical fluid chromatography of artemisinin (qinghaosu) with electron-capture detection.
abstract: In this preliminary report, a supercritical fluid chromatographic method is described for the determination of artemisinin in whole blood. The chromatography is carried out on a 20 cm x 1 mm I.D. Deltabond cyano supercritical fluid chromatographic column with detection of the artemisinin via an electron-capture detector. The sample work-up uses a liquid-liquid extraction with hexane, giving a recovery of 82%. The current limit of detection using 1 ml of blood is 20 ng/ml. We speculate that the endoperoxide moiety accounts for the response to the electron-capture detector and thus provides a new approach by which this class of compounds may be analyzed.
authors.affiliation: Entomology Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Mount
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Todd
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Navaratnam
mesh_terms: D000962:Antimalarials / Q000097:blood*; D037621:Artemisinins; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D004583:Electrons; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials; D037621:Artemisinins; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; C031327:artemisinin