Determination of cocaine concentrations in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography

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Abstract
We describe a procedure for measuring concentrations of cocaine in plasma by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, with ion-pairing. The procedure involves solvent extraction followed by back-extraction with dilute acid. The n-propyl ester of benzoylecgonine is used as an internal standard. An evaporation step is not required, and concentrations as low as 5 micrograms/L can be quantified. Plasma concentrations of cocaine determined by high-performance liquid chromatography correlated well with those determined by a previously reported gas-chromatographic procedure with nitrogen detection.