Organic solvent extraction of anabolic steroids from aqueous solutions

Abstract

The extraction of anabolic steroids (testosterone; epitestosterone; epimethenediol; 17α-methyltestosterone; 19-norethiocholanolone; 18-normethenol; 19-norandrosterone; 3α-hydroxy-2α-methyl-5α-androstan-17-one; 9α-fluoro-17,17dimethyl-18-norandrostan-4,13-dien-11β-ol-3-one; 1α-methyl-5α-androstan-3α-ol-17-one; 1α-methyl-5αandrostan-3α,17β-diol; epioxandrolone; methasterone; oxandrolone; formestane; 16β-hydroxyfurazabol) with organic solvents from water and aqueous salt solutions was studied at 20 ° C. Based on the experimental data obtained, the partition ratios of anabolic steroids (AS) were calculated, which were used to optimize the standard sample preparation procedure in the process of determining anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) and their metabolites in the urine of athletes. It was found that the most selective extractant from aqueous and aqueous salt solutions is hexane, which extracts the majority of AAS. To increase the recovery of AAS, poorly extracted by hexane, it is advisable to use salting out with sodium or ammonium sulfate and use more active organic extractants – methylene chloride or diethyl ether. An extraction sample preparation technique has been developed for the subsequent determination of anabolic steroids and their metabolites in athletes’ urine by gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection method. The proposed method is characterized by a standard deviation of 10 – 15 % and a detection limit of about 10 ng/ml of urine.