Liquid chromatographic determination of the enantiomeric composition of amphetamine and related drugs by diastereomeric derivatization.

A procedure is described for the derivatization of amphetamine and methamphetamine enantiomers with 4-nitrophenylsulfonyl-(S)-prolyl chloride. The resulting diastereomeric amphetamine derivatives were resolved by a reversed-phase procedure. The derivatization yield was maximized in the 95% range using a five-fold molar excess of the chiral derivatizing agent and an approximate 18 to 1 ratio of base (NaHCO3) to total acid generated in the reaction.