SUPERCRITICAL FLUID CHROMATOGRAPHY OF CANNABINOIDS

THE ANALYSIS OF CANNABINOIDS FOR RESEARCH OR SCREENING FOR CANNABIS ABUSE REQUIRES METHODS CAPABLE OF CHARACTERIZING AND QUANTIFYING METABOLITES OF THE CANNABINOIDS WHICH ARE GENERALLY POLAR OR THERMALLY UNSTABLE AND WHICH MUST BE SEPARATED FROM A COMPLEX BIOLOGICAL MATRIX. SUPERCRITICAL FLUID CHROMATOGRAPHY (SFC) IS PROPOSED AS A METHOD WHICH IS CAPABLE OF PROVIDING HIGH-RESOLUTION SEPARATION OF POLAR OR THERMALLY LABILE COMPOUNDS WITH OPTIMUM DETECTION CAPABILITY WHILE REQUIRING MINIMAL PRESEPARATION. ADVANTAGES OF USING SFC ARISE FROM HIGH SOLUTE DIFFUSIVITY, LOW VISCOSITY, AND EXCELLENT SOLVATION CAPABILITY. THIS STUDY INTENDS TO DEMONSTRATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SFC IN ANALYSIS OF CANNABINOID METABOLITES. TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF METHODS AND SFC EQUIPMENT FOR ANALYSIS OF THESE POLAR COMPOUNDS, RESEARCH WILL BE DIRECTED TOWARD EVALUATION OF BONDED PHASE CAPILLARY COLUMNS, DETERMINATION OF METABOLITE SOLUBILITY IN VARIOUS CANDIDATE SUPERCRITICAL FLUIDS, DETERMINATION OF EXTRACTION PROFILES OF METABOLITES, AND A DETERMINATION OF CONDITIONS AFFECTING SENSITIVITY OF SFC DETECTORS PROPOSED FOR DEVELOPMENT. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF METHODS AND INSTRUMENTATION WHICH WILL BE READILY APPLIED TO RESEARCH AND SCREENING ACTIVITIES AND WHICH ARE OPERABLE BY RESEARCH AND CLINICAL LABORATORY STAFF TRAINED IN STANDARD GC OR LC CHROMATOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES.