title: Comparison of phenyl-type columns in the development of a fast liquid chromatographic system for eighteen opiates commonly found in forensic toxicology.
abstract: We report a precise and reliable method for the detection of 18 of the most commonly found opiates on the Belgian legal and illicit market, by ion-exchange, reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, using a conventional phenyl-type analytical column (150x4.6 mm I.D., particle size 5 microm) and diode-array detection. We also describe a performance (efficiency and sensitivity) comparison of this column to a recently developed "high-speed" column (53x7.0 mm I.D., particle size 3 microm) packed with the same stationary phase, and used under slightly adjusted flow and gradient conditions. The final method, using the "high-speed" column, showed a significant reduction (55%) in analysis time without loss of resolution and sensitivity.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorium voor Toxicologie, Universiteit Gent, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dams
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Clauwaert
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: De Leenheer
mesh_terms: D002021:Buffers; D002412:Cations; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D009294:Narcotics / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D012015:Reference Standards; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
chemical_list: D002021:Buffers; D002412:Cations; D009294:Narcotics