Determination of nine catecholamine metabolites and 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid in urine by capillary gas chromatography.

A method is described for the simultaneous determination of nine urinary acidic and alcoholic catecholamine metabolites and urinary 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid. Incubation of a urine sample in the presence of ascorbic acid, glucuronidase and acylase and subsequent extraction with ethyl acetate precedes derivatization to trimethylsilyl compounds, capillary gas chromatographic separation and flame-ionization detection. The automated dual injection procedure and the analytical characteristics of the proposed method are reported in detail. Special attention is paid to problems that occur in analysis on a routine basis.