Determination of methamphetamine, amphetamine and piperidine in human urine by high-performance liquid chromatography with chemiluminescence detection.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of trace levels of methamphetamine, amphetamine and piperidine in human urine is reported. The three compounds, extracted into diethyl ether from alkaline urine, were derivatized with dansyl chloride, then separated on a reversed-phase column and detected by chemiluminescence after reaction with bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl) oxalate and hydrogen peroxide. The corresponding peaks obtained from human urine were identified as the dansyl derivatives by mass spectrometry. Methamphetamine levels as low as 2 x 10(-10) M in urine were determined. The sensitivity of the method is higher than that of Simon's reagent test and gas chromatography.