Determination of the enantiomers of metoprolol and its major acidic metabolite in human urine by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection.

Enantiomers of metoprolol and its acidic metabolite H 117/04 were determined in human urine by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorometric detection after chiral derivatization. The carboxyl functional group of the major metabolite was blocked by esterification after solid-phase extraction, which helped to quantitate this compound from interfering substances. The assay method was validated. The recovery of (-)- and (+)-metoprolol from urine was 86.3-90.5%; and the recovery of the (-)- and (+)-acidic metabolite H 117/04 from urine was 74.4-83.9% at different concentrations.