Simultaneous determination of R- and S-prenylamine in plasma and urine by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of R- and S-prenylamine in human plasma and urine is described. It involves a two-step liquid-liquid extraction of prenylamine from biological material and preparation of diastereomeric urea derivatives with R-(-)-naphthylethyl isocyanate, a chiral fluorescence marker. Separation and quantitation of the diastereomeric prenylamine derivatives are carried out by a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic system with fluorimetric detection. The limit of determination is less than 2 ng of enantiomer per ml of urine and less than 1 ng of enantiomer per ml of plasma. A preliminary kinetic study on one healthy volunteer who had received a single oral dose of racemic prenylamine (100-mg film tablet) showed distinctly higher plasma and urine concentrations of the R-enantiomer.