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A systematic toxicological analysis procedure using high-performance thin layer chromatography in combination with fibre optical scanning densitometry for identification of drugs in biological samples is presented. Two examples illustrate the practicability of the technique. First, the identification of a multiple intake of analgesics: codeine, propyphenazone, tramadol, flupirtine and lidocaine, and second, the detection of the sedative diphenhydramine. In both cases, authentic urine specimens were used. The identifications were carried out by an automatic measurement and computer-based comparison of in situ UV spectra with data from a compiled library of reference spectra using the cross-correlation function. The technique allowed a parallel recording of chromatograms and in situ UV spectra in the range of 197–612 nm. Unlike the conventional densitometry, a dependency of UV spectra by concentration of substance in a range of 250–1000 ng/spot was not observed.
In-situ densitometry for qualitative or quantitative purposes is a key step in thin-layer chromatography (TLC). It is a simple means of quantification by measurement of the optical density of the separated spots directly on the plate. A new scanner has been developed which is capable of measuring TLC or HPTLC (high-performance thin-layer chromatography) plates simultaneously at different wavelengths without damaging the plate surface. Fiber optics and special fiber interfaces are used in combination with a diode-array detector. With this new scanner sophisticated plate evaluation is now possible, which enables use of chemometric methods in HPTLC. Different regression models have been introduced which enable appropriate evaluation of all analytical questions. Fluorescent measurements are possible without filters or special lamps and signal-to-noise ratios can be improved by wavelength bundling. Because of the richly structured spectra obtained from PAH, diode-array HPTLC enables quantification of all 16 EPA PAH on one track. Although the separation is incomplete all 16 compounds can be quantified by use of suitable wavelengths. All these aspects are enable substantial improvement of in-situ quantitative densitometric analysis.
In this paper a high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) scanner is presented in which a special fibre arrangement is used as HPTLC plate scanning interface. Measurements are taken with a set of 50 fibres at a distance of 400 to 500 μm above the HPTLC plate. Spatial resolutions on the HPTLC plate of better than 160 μm are possible. It takes less than 2 min to scan 450 spectra simultaneously in a range of 198 to 610 nm. The basic improvement of the item is the use of highly transparent glass fibres which provide excellent transmission at 200 nm and the use of a special fibre arrangement for plate illumination and detection.