Rapid Multidimensional GC Analysis of Trace Drugs in Complex Matrices

Reduction in analysis time is an important goal for easing the burden of large sample sets associated with routine screening of blood samples and sample sets produced from drug metabolism studies. This study focuses on reduction in analysis time for simultaneous detection of delta-9-THC, 11-OH-THC, and THC-COOH in whole blood and urine extracts. This was achieved using the GERSTEL MACH fast GC system combined with an Agilent GC-MSD. Addition of the MACH system allows three independently heated temperature zones for multidimensional chromatography using Agilent Capillary Flow Technology Dean’s Switches along with fast heating/cooling rates.