Determination of ampicillin in biological fluids by coupled-column liquid chromatography and post-column derivatization.

A rapid and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of ampicillin in plasma and urine. The method involves a simple deproteinization step and separation on a coupled-column chromatographic system followed by post-column derivatization and fluorescence detection. The method has been used for the determination of ampicillin in various clinical studies. The high sensitivity makes it especially useful for small sample volumes, e.g. samples from pediatric patients.