Determination of 17‐Monochloroacetylajmaline and Its Metabolite in Plasma by TLC Fluorescence Detection

A sensitive and specific method is described for the determination of 17‐monochloroacetylajmaline (I) and its metabolite, ajmaline (II), in plasma. Method specificity is accomplished by combining an ion‐pair extraction with chromatography followed by development and utilization of reaction product fluorescence of the isolated species on silica gel. Recovery of I and II added to plasma or water averaged 70%. The major loss in the assay resulted during a solvent evaporation step and was reproducible over the concentration interval studied. The limit of detectability for I is 0.06μg/2ml of plasma. The method was used to determine plasma levels of I and II in the dog following a dose of 10mg/kg iv of I.