Fast liquid chromatography for the determination of drugs in plasma and combination with liquid-solid extraction in a fully automated system.

Fast liquid chromatography was applied to the assay of several drugs in plasma. Short columns, 3.3-4 cm long, packed with C18 material, 3 microns particle size, were used. The peaks were little subject to extra-column band-broadening because the investigated drugs were eluted with high capacity factors in order to obtain an adequate separation from plasma components. The main influences on efficiency were the response time of the detector and the solvent composition of the injected sample. Conventional apparatus was used. A fully automated analytical system combining liquid-solid extraction via disposable extraction columns and fast liquid chromatography on a small-dimensioned 3 microns particle size column is described for the assay of drugs in plasma. Automation was accomplished by using the Automatic Sample Preparation with Extraction Columns system.