SEPARATION AND QUANTITATION OF OPTICAL ISOMERS OF METHYLAMPHETAMINE SAMPLES BY CAPILLARY ELECTROPHORESIS

A capillary electrophoretic (CE) procedure using an electrolyte modifi ed with hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin has been used for the separati on and quantitation of (S)- and (R)-methylamphetamine in fifteen labor atory prepared samples and ten 'street' samples. Excellent separation of (S)- and (R)-methylamphetamine was achieved and the levels of methy lamphetamine in the samples were in good agreement with the levels det ermined by a separate CE procedure previously developed in our laborat ory. Both CE systems showed the presence of impurities in some of the samples suggesting that CE could be used in profiling illicit methylam phetamine seizures. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analy sis of two of the samples identified one of the impurities as N-formyl methylamphetamine, however, no conclusive proof for the presence of t his compound in the electropherograms was available. The chloride and sulphate content of the ten 'street' samples was also determined by CE . (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.