Identification and Quantitative Determination of Phenothiazine Drugs in Urine Samples of Psychiatric Patients

A GLC method for the specific identification and quantitation of phenothiazine drugs excreted in urine at the microgram level is described. The phenothiazine drugs and less polar metabolites are isolated by two-phase extraction with ether as an organic extractant. Quantitative determination at the microgram level is done on an acetylated fraction of the alcoholic extract by GLC using a suitable internal standard. The compounds are also identified by examining an aliquot of the final alcoholic extract by TLC for supporting evidence of the GLC method's specificity.