Determination of heroin and basic impurities for drug profiling by ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography.

Rapid, precise, accurate, and reproducible methodology using ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC) for the analysis of heroin and basic impurities is described. The determination of heroin, morphine, O3-monoacetylmorphine, O6-monoacetylmorphine, codeine, acetylcodeine, noscapine, and papaverine is accomplished using reversed-phase chromatography (RPC), employing a 1.7 μm Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column (2.

Stable isotope analyses of heroin seized from the merchant vessel Pong Su.

A new type of heroin HCl seized in Australia was examined by stable isotope analysis. The final origin/process classification of these samples by chromatographic signature profiles of the impurity/manufacturing by-products was previously determined to be "unknown" by two independent national laboratories. Various drug enforcement authorities speculated that the heroin might be from a new region or new illicit process due to the unusual chromatographic impurity profiles that were present.