Printable Meeting FlierFebruary Meeting Notice
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Back to the Future in Separation Science
Ira S. Lurie
Special Testing and Research Laboratory
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
Dulles, Virginia
Abstract:
During the last 30 years in my career as a forensic drug chemist, there have been tremendous advances in separation science. The evolution of gas chromatography (GC) from packed to capillary columns has resulted in separations of unrivaled peak capacity. However, GC is problematic for solutes that are thermally degradable, highly polar, and non-volatile. Liquid phase separation techniques, although limited in peak capacity, do not suffer from these limitations. For liquid phase separations, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was the technique of choice in the seventies and eighties. This fully automated technique, which allowed for the quantitation of seized drugs in complex mixtures, was a great improvement over classical column chromatography. In the nineties to present, capillary electrophoresis (CE) has become preferred for these analyses due to its greater resolving power. The next significant advance in separation science comes from going “Back to the Future,” a return to HPLC. Increasing the pressure capability of HPLC to as high as 90000 psi may allow future separations of seized drugs to rival capillary GC in peak capacity. Presently, the use of ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLCTM) with tandem mass spectrometric (MS/MS) and/or photodiode array (PDA) detection, for the analysis of seized drugs is being investigated. This technique, which uses instrumentation engineered to handle the narrow peaks and high back pressures generated by 1.7 µm particle columns (≤15000 psi), provides significantly better resolution and/or faster analysis than HPLC and CE. The use of 2 mm internal diameter columns containing hybrid inorganic-organic C18 stationary phases for the separation of basic and neutral drugs, drug profiling, and general screening (including acidic drugs) is described. For these applications, compared to HPLC and CE, UPLCTM provides up to 12x and 3x faster analysis, respectively. For drug profiling, UPLCTM resolves approximately twice as many peaks as traditional liquid separation techniques. MS/MS detection, due to greater specificity and lower detection limits than PDA detection, is well suited for drug profiling. Another avenue of investigation is the use of HPLC with 1.8 µm particle C18 columns at elevated temperature and elevated pressure.
About the Speaker:
Ira Lurie obtained a B.A. degree from Queens College in 1968 and a MS degree from Rutgers University in 1974. After working as a chemist at Downstate Medical Center and The American Health Foundation, he joined the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 1974. He served as a Forensic Chemist at the DEA Northeast Regional Laboratory until 1981. There his research interest focused on the application of HPLC to the analysis of seized drugs. Since 1981, he has served as a Research Chemist and Senior Research Chemist at the DEA Special Testing and Research Laboratory. In this capacity, Ira is the agency’s expert in liquid phase separation techniques where his research interests included HPLC, UPLCTM and related techniques, UPLCTM -MS-MS, SFC, CE and CEC.
Ira Lurie has authored or coauthored over 60 publications including co-editing a book entitled “High-Performance Liquid Chromatography in Forensic Chemistry”. He is a past president of the Washington Chromatography Discussion Group and a fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Ira serves on the editorial advisory board of the Royal Society of Chemistry Chromatography book series.
Details:
| Location: | Hilton Wilmington |
| Times: | 5:00 PM Executive Committee Meeting 5:45 PM Social "Hour" 6:30 PM Dinner 7:30 PM Presentation |
| Cost: | $30 |
| Dinner Choices: | Herb Roasted Breast of Chicken Atlantic Salmon Filet with Mustard Dill Sauce Grilled Portabella Mushroom |
NOTICE TO STUDENTS AND FACULTY: Full-time students with valid ID may attend dinner meetings at half-price. Faculty members at colleges and universities are urged to bring one or more students to the meeting. If they do, they also can attend at half-price.