Current status and recent advantages in derivatization procedures in human doping control.

Derivatization is one of the most important steps during sample preparation in doping control analysis. Its main purpose is the enhancement of chromatographic separation and mass spectrometric detection of analytes in the full range of laboratory doping control activities. Its application is shown to broaden the detectable range of compounds, even in LC-MS analysis, where derivatization is not a prerequisite.