Published: Journal of Analytical Toxicology, Volume 23, Number 7, Nov/Dec 1999, pp. 581-585
Sulfonium Salts as Derivatizing Agents. 3. Quantitation
of the Cocaine Metabolite Benzoylecgonine in Urine Using Gas Chromatography
with Ion-Pair Extraction/On-Column Alkylation
Recent studies have demonstrated the utility of quantitative assays for benzoylecgonine in assessing the efficacy of cocaine-dependence-treatment programs to determine if the amount of cocaine consumed has been reduced. We describe a simple gas chromatographic method for determining benzoylecgonine concentrations in urine. BZE is extracted from urine as an ion pair with tri-n-propylsulfonium ion. Injection into the heated injection port of the gas chromatograph results in thermal conversion of the ion pair to the n-propyl ester of BZE. Using the structural analogue of BZE, m-toluylecgonine, as the internal standard, the analysis is carried out on a (5% phenyl)methylpolysiloxane capillary column with nitrogen-phosphorus detection. There was a good correlation between BZE concentrations determined by gas chromatography– mass spectrometry and concentrations determined by the method described in this paper. Application to cocaine-dependence-treatment programs is discussed.
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