The use of turbulent flow chromatography/mass spectrometry for the rapid, direct analysis of a novel pharmaceutical compound in plasma

The use of turbulent flow chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (turbulent flow LC/MS) shows great potential for the rapid, direct analysis of pharmaceutical compounds in plasma and serum. The use of turbulent flow LC/MS has removed the need for any time‐consuming sample preparation such as solid phase extraction, and allowed a total sample analysis time of approximately 2.5 min to be achieved. The coupling of a mass spectrometer with HPLC often not only results in greater sensitivity, but also the added specificity of the mass spectrometer reduces the need for complete resolution of the analyte from endogenous material in the matrix. This allows an on‐line analysis approach to be used for the analysis of pharmaceuticals in biological matrices. Turbulent flow chromatography is achieved by the use of high flow rates and large particle size stationary phases. When coupled with mass spectrometric detection, the technique allows the direct analysis of plasma or serum samples with very rapid chromatography and, therefore, extremely high throughput. This work demonstrates the suitability of this technique for the validated analysis of biological samples for a novel isoquinoline pharmaceutical and offers some ideas on the future continued development, optimization and application of turbulent flow liquid chromatography. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.