Enantioresolution of five β-blockers by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography using fifteen chiral derivatizing reagents having amino acids or their amides as chiral auxiliaries on a cyanuric chloride platform

Enantioseparation of five β-blockers, namely, (R,S)-atenolol, (R,S)-propranolol, (R,S)-bisoprolol, (R,S)-metoprolol and (R,S)-carvedilol, was achieved as their diastereomers prepared with chiral derivatizing reagents (CDRs) synthesized on a cyanuric chloride platform. Fifteen CDRs were synthesized by nucleophilic substitution of the Cl atom in cyanuric chloride or its 6-methoxy derivative with amino acids (namely, L-Leu, L-Val, D-Phg, L-Met and L-Ala) or their amides as chiral auxiliaries. The diastereomers were synthesized under microwave irradiation for 70 or 100 s at 85% power. Separation of diastereomers was carried out on a C(18) column and gradient eluting mixtures of methanol with aqueous trifluoroacetic acid with UV detection at 230 nm. Separation efficiencies of the reagents were compared on the basis of effect of chiral auxiliaries (i.e. amino acids or amino acid amides) and achiral substituents (i.e. chlorine or methoxy group) in the CDRs. The method was validated for detection limit, linearity, accuracy and precision.     

Submicellar and micellar reversed-phase liquid chromatographic modes applied to the separation of β-blockers

The behaviour of a reversed-phase liquid chromatographic (RPLC) system (i.e. elution order, resolution and analysis time), used in the analysis of β-blockers with acetonitrile–water mobile phases, changes drastically upon addition of an anionic surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulphate, SDS). Surfactant monomers cover the alkyl-bonded phase in different extent depending on the concentration of both modifiers, in the ranges 1 × 10⁻³–0.15 M SDS and 5–50% acetonitrile. Meanwhile, the surfactant is dissolved in the mobile phase as free monomers, associated in small clusters or forming micelles. Four characteristic RPLC modes are yielded, with transition regions between them: hydro-organic, micellar, and low and high submicellar. The mobile phases in the two latter modes contain a concentration of SDS below or well above the critical micellar concentration (CMC) in water (i.e. 8 × 10⁻³ M), and more than 30% acetonitrile. High submicellar RPLC appeared as the most promising mode, as it allowed full resolution of the β-blockers in practical times, while these were unresolved or highly retained in the other RPLC modes. The strong attraction of the cationic solutes to the anionic SDS makes a direct transfer mechanism between surfactant molecules in the stationary and mobile phases likely.     

Micellar liquid chromatography for enantioseparation of β-adrenolytics using (S)-ketoprofen-based reagents

Micellar liquid chromatographic method has been developed for enantioseparation of four β-adrenolytics, namely, (RS)-salbutamol, (RS)-carvedilol, (RS)-bisoprolol, and (RS)-betaxolol. Both sodium docyl sulfate and Brij-35 were used as the surfactants in water as the mobile phase. Advantages for using both the surfactants in combination were investigated. Two (S)-ketoprofen-based activated esters were synthesized by activating its carboxylic group with N-hydroxybenzotriazole and N-hydroxysuccinimide, respectively. The esters were characterized by UV, IR, ¹H-NMR, HRMS, and elemental analyses. These reagents were used for the synthesis of diastereomeric derivatives of the chosen β-adrenolytics. These diastereomeric derivatives were enantioseparated on C₁₈ column by high-performance liquid chromatography. Chromatographic conditions were optimized by varying concentration of surfactant and buffer, and pH. The method was validated according to International Conference of Harmonization guideline and the retention factor (k), selectivity factor (α), resolution factor (R_S), and limit of detection and limit of quantification were calculated.     

Determination of β-blockers and β-agonists using gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry--a comparative study of the derivatization step

There is a growing demand for the rapid screening of multiple β-blockers and β-agonists in a single analytical run in clinical toxicology, antidoping control, forensic and environmental science. Although GC-MS is very often used to determine pharmaceuticals from these groups of drugs, the literature data on the derivatization and MS analysis of mixtures of these compounds is limited. This paper compares and evaluates derivatization procedures for the determination of six β-blockers (acebutolol, atenolol, metoprolol, nadolol, propranolol, pindolol) and two β-agonists (salbutamol, terbutaline) using GC techniques. Nineteen different derivatizing reagents (nine of them used for the first time with almost all the drugs) were employed in order to obtain a single derivative for each target compound with the greatest effectiveness of this reaction. Trimethylsilylation, tert-butyldimethylsilylation, acylation (e.g. trifluoroacetylation), combined trimethylsilylation and acylation, and the formation of cyclized silyl derivatives were carried out and the mass spectra (EI, 70 eV) recorded. The influence of the reaction time and temperature on these procedures was investigated. Additionally, the effects of the type of solvent and the amount of added trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) on the silylation of the target compounds using N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) were tested. Among of the five mentioned above derivatization procedures applied - trimethylsilylation was found to be the most effective for derivatizing the analytes. The best results were obtained with a 1:1 (v/v) mixture of 99% BSTFA+1% TMCS and ethyl acetate at 60 °C for 30 min. The MS data for different types of β-blocker and β-agonist derivatives is presented. The information in this paper is valuable for scientists working on the determination of β-blockers and β-agonists in biological and environmental matrices.     

Application of alkoxy-λ6-sulfanenitriles as strong alkylating reagents

Alkoxy-λ⁶-sulfanenitriles were found to be versatile alkylating reagents toward various nucleophiles bearing at least one proton such as methanol, phenol, thiophenols, carboxylic acids, p-toluenesulfonic acid, hydrochloric acid, and primary and secondary amines. Reactivity of the alkoxy group of the λ⁶-sulfanenitriles showed an opposite trend to the usual S_N2 character, i.e. Me ( 1a ), Pr ( 1b ), and Bu ( 1d ) ≪ i-Pr ( 1c ). In the presence of p-TsOH, alkyl tosylates were predominantly formed instead of the alkylation products of nucleophiles. In addition, even a sterically hindered substrate, neopentyloxy-λ⁶-sulfanenitrile, was found to undergo an S_N2 reaction toward thiophenol without any rearrangement product to give neopentyl phenyl sulfide in good yield. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 15:193–198, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/hc.20006     

Determination of nucleotides,nucleosides and their transformation products in Cordyceps by ion-pairing reversed-phase liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry

An ion-pairing reversed-phase liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (IP-RP-LC–MS) was developed for the determination of nucleotides, nucleosides and their transformation products in Cordyceps. Perfluorinated carboxylic acid, namely pentadecafluorooctanoic acid (PDFOA, 0.25 mM), was used as volatile ion-paring agent and a reversed-phase column (Agilent ZORBAX SB-Aq column) was used for the separation of three nucleotides namely uridine-5′-monophosphate (UMP, 0.638–10.200 μg/mL), adenosine-5′-monophosphate (AMP, 0.24–7.80 μg/mL) and guanosine-5′-monophosphate (GMP, 0.42–13.50 μg/mL), seven nucleosides including adenosine (0.55–8.85 μg/mL), guanosine (0.42–6.75 μg/mL), uridine (0.33–10.50 μg/mL), inosine (0.21–6.60 μg/mL), cytidine (0.48–15.30 μg/mL), thymidine (0.20–6.30 μg/mL) and cordycepin (0.09–1.50 μg/mL), as well as six nucleobases, adenine (0.22–6.90 μg/mL), guanine (0.26–4.20 μg/mL), uracil (0.38–12.15 μg/mL), hypoxanthine (0.13–4.20 μg/mL), cytosine (0.39–12.45 μg/mL) and thymine (0.26–8.25 μg/mL) with 5-chlorocytosine arabinoside as the internal standard. The overall LODs and LOQs were between 0.01–0.16 μg/mL and 0.04–0.41 μg/mL for the 16 analytes, respectively. The contents of 16 investigated compounds in natural and cultured Cordyceps were also determined and compared after validation of the developed IP-RP-LC-MS method. The transformations of nucleotides and nucleosides in Cordyceps were evaluated based on the quantification of the investigated compounds in three extracts, including boiling water extraction (BWE), 24 h ambient temperature water immersion (ATWE) and 56 h ATWE extracts. Two transformation pathways including UMP → uridine → uracil and GMP → guanosine → guanine were proposed in both natural Cordyceps sinensis and cultured Cordyceps militaris. The pathway of AMP → adenosine → inosine → hypoxanthine was proposed in natural C. sinensis, while AMP → adenosine → adenine in cultured C. militaris. However, the transformation of nucleotides and nucleosides was not found in commercial cultured C. sinensis.     

Triazole derivatives as analytical reagents. Part V. Analytical studies of β-resorcylazomercaptotriazole (METRIAREZ-β) and γ-resorcylazomercaptotriazole (METRIAREZ-γ) acids

METRIAREZ- and -, two new derivatives of 5-mercapto-1,2,4-triazole with - and -resorcylic acids have been synthesized and their physicochemical and chelating properties determined. With metal ions havingp andd electrons they form water-soluble coloured chelates at L M molar ratios of 1 1 with Cu²⁺ and Pb²⁺ ( and ), Hg²⁺ and Zn²⁺ () and Cd²⁺, In³⁺ and Bi³⁺ () and 2 1 with Fe³⁺, Fe²⁺, Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺ ( and ) and Zn²⁺ (). The chelates are non-extractable by organic solvents. The stability constants of these complexes, as well as their spectrophotometric sensitivity and extinction coefficients were determined. Iron and zinc in multivitamin tablets were determined spectrophotometrically using the ligands.     

Performance of short-chain alcohols versus acetonitrile in the surfactant-mediated reversed-phase liquid chromatographic separation of β-blockers

Organic solvents are traditionally added to micellar mobile phases to achieve adequate retention times and peak profiles, in a chromatographic mode which has been called micellar liquid chromatography (MLC). The organic solvent content is limited to preserve the formation of micelles. However, at increasing organic solvent contents, the transition to a situation where micelles do not exist is gradual. Also, there is no reason to neglect the potentiality of mobile phases containing only surfactant monomers instead of micelles (high submicellar chromatography, HSC). This is demonstrated here for the analysis of β-blockers. The performance of four organic solvents (methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, and acetonitrile) was compared in mobile phases containing the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphate in the MLC and HSC modes. The association of the organic solvent molecules with micelles gives rise to a significant loss in the elution strength of the organic solvent; whereas upon disruption of micelles, it tends to that observed in the hydro-organic mode. The elution behaviour of the β-blockers was modelled to predict the retention times. This allowed the detailed exploration of the selectivity and resolution of the chromatographic systems in relatively wide ranges of concentration of surfactant and organic solvent. The best performance in terms of resolution and analysis time was achieved using HSC with acetonitrile, being able to base-line resolve a mixture of eight β-blockers. Ethanol also provided a good separation performance, significantly improved with respect to methanol and 1-propanol. In contrast, the hydro-organic mode using acetonitrile or any of the short-chain alcohols could not succeed with the separation of the β-blockers, owing to the poorer selectivity and wider peaks.     

Development of novel fiber-packed needle interface for off-line reversed-phase liquid chromatography–capillary gas chromatography

For two-dimensional reversed-phase liquid chromatography–gas chromatography (2D RPLC–GC), a specially-designed needle packed with a polymer-coated fibrous stationary phase was introduced as a novel interface. The bundle of synthetic fibers coated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was packed into the head section of the needle, and served as the extraction medium. Using the post-column dilution of the LC eluent by water and subsequent extraction with the needle interface, the analyte was successfully concentrated to the PDMS phase on the fibrous support in the needle. The concentrated analytes were directly injected to GC system by inserting the needle to a heated GC injector. 2D separations of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, and also kerosene-extract were performed with the off-line RPLC–GC system interfaced by the needle extractor. The results suggested that the fiber-packed needle interface could be one of the simple and effective approaches to develop an on-line coupled LC–GC system.     

Analysis of sulfonated compounds by reversed-phase ion-pair chromatography—Mass spectrometry with on-line removal of non-volatile tetrabutyl ammonium ion-pairing agents

Summary An ion-pair reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography method with tetrabutyl ammonium salts as ion-pairing agents and mass spectrometric detection has been developed for sulfonated compounds with special focus on structural identification. A cation exchange suppressor cartridge placed between the UV detector and the ion source of the mass spectrometer completely removed the non-volatile ion-pairing agent resulting in excellent conditions for both electrospray ioniziation and atmospheric pressure chemical ioniziation. Peak broadening caused by the dead volume of the suppressor is negligible. The application range of this method is demonstrated by the structural identification of individual compounds within a complex mixture of model substances consisting of sulfonated aromatics, textile dyes and detergents with as many as four sulfonic acid groups, all largely differing from each other in their structural properties. The influence of the ion-pairing agent's counter ion on retention behaviour is also discussed.     

Microorganisms as reagents for transformations of 5α-steroids

Microbial activation of rings A, B, and C of 5-steroids is reviewed in connection with the prospects for the use of 5-steroids as a new starting material for the manufacturing of steroidal medicinal preparations. The combination of chemical synthesis and microbial methods of steroid transformation allows the successful solution of the problem of selective functionalization of steroid molecules, provided the suitable microorganisms are chosen and the conditions of their cultivation are optimized.Translated fromIzyestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 567–588, April, 1994.     

Separation and determination of resibufogenin and cinobufagin in Chansu using reversed-phase liquid chromatography with γ-cyclodextrin as mobile-phase modifier

A simple, accurate, sensitive, and robust reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method employing cyclodextrins as mobile phase additives has been developed in order to separate and determine resibufogenin and cinobufagin. Various factors affecting the separation for them, such as the nature of cyclodextrins, organic solvent, the concentration of γ-cyclodextrin, and temperature, were systematically studied. γ-cyclodextrin, as an effective mobile phase additive, can markedly improve the separation for resibufogenin and cinobufagin. The role of γ-cyclodextrin in the developed HPLC method is attributed to the formation of the inclusion complex between resibufogenin (or cinobufagin) and γ-cyclodextrin. So, the apparent formation constant (K(f) ) of the resibufogenin (or cinobufagin)/γ-cyclodextrin inclusion complex and the thermodynamic parameters of the inclusion process also were investigated. Resibufogenin (or cinobufagin) forms the 1:1 inclusion complexes with γ-cyclodextrin, and the resibufogenin/γ-cyclodextrin complex is more stable than the cinobufagin/γ-cyclodextrin complex. The K(f) values of resibufogenin and cinobufagin decrease with the increase of the temperature. The thermodynamic parameters of the inclusion reveal that the inclusion process between resibufogenin (or cinobufagin) and γ-cyclodextrin is spontaneous, exothermic, and enthalpically driven. Finally, the optimized method was successfully applied to separate and determine of resibufogenin and cinobufagin in the different Chansu (Bufonis venenum) samples.     

Extraction and preconcentration of β-blockers in human urine for analysis with high performance liquid chromatography by means of carrier-mediated liquid phase microextraction

A novel method was developed for the analysis of four β-blockers, namely sotalol, carteolol, bisoprolol, and propranolol, in human urine by coupling carrier-mediated liquid phase microextraction (CM-LPME) to high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). By adding an appropriate carrier in organic phase, simultaneous extraction and enrichment of hydrophilic (sotalol, carteolol, and bisoprolol) and hydrophobic (propranolol) drugs were achieved. High enrichment factors were obtained by optimizing the compositions of the organic phase, the acceptor solution, the donor solution, the stirring rate, and the extraction time. The linear ranges were from 0.05 to 10.0 mg L⁻¹ for sotalol and carteolol, and from 0.05 to 8.0 mg L⁻¹ for bisoprolol and propranolol. The limits of detection (S/N = 3) were 0.01 mg L⁻¹ for sotalol, carteolol, and bisoprolol, and 0.005 mg L⁻¹ for propranolol. The relative standard deviations were lower than 6%. The developed method exhibited high analyte preconcentration and excellent sample clean-up effects with little solvent consumption and was found to be sensitive and suitable for simultaneous determination of the above four drugs spiked in human urine. Furthermore, the successful analysis of propranolol in real urine specimens revealed that the determination of β-blockers in human urine is feasible using the present method.     

Reaction of β-blockers and β-agonist pharmaceuticals with aqueous chlorine. Investigation of kinetics and by-products by liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

The degradation of two β-blockers (atenolol and propranolol) and one β-receptor agonist (salbutamol) during water chlorination was investigated by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). An accurate-mass quadrupole time-of-flight system (QTOF) was used to follow the time course of the pharmaceuticals and also used in the identification of the by-products. The degradation kinetics of these drugs was investigated at different concentrations of chlorine, bromide and sample pH by means of a Box-Behnken experimental design. Depending on these factors, dissipation half-lives varied in the ranges 68-145 h for atenolol, 1.3-33 min for salbutamol and 42-8362 min for propranolol. Normally, an increase in chlorine dosage and pH resulted in faster degradation of these pharmaceuticals. Moreover, the presence of bromide in water samples also resulted in a faster transformation of atenolol at low chlorine doses. The use of an accurate-mass high-resolution LC-QTOF-MS system permitted the identification of a total of 14 by-products. The transformation pathway of β-blockers/agonists consisted mainly of halogenations, hydroxylations and dealkylations. Also, many of these by-products are stable, depending on the chlorination operational parameters employed.     

Enantioseparation of dansyl amino acids by ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography using cationic β-cyclodextrins as chiral additives

This work reports the application of ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC) for reasonably fast enantiorecognition of some dansyl amino acids by employing three cationic β-cyclodextrins (β-CDs) as chiral additives. Good resolutions were obtained on an Agilent C18 column (2.1 mm i.d.; 1.8 μm; 50 mm length) with 1% (v/v) triethylammonium acetate buffered at pH 4.7 and acetonitrile as the mobile phase. Most of the analytes could be baseline resolved within 10 min. Increased cationic CD concentration or acetonitrile proportion in the mobile phase results in a decreased retention factor but accentuated selectivity. Furthermore, molecular mechanics calculation was performed and found to be consistent with the experimental results.     

Application of β-cyclodextrin for the analysis of estrogenic steroids in human urine by high-performance liquid chromatography

Summary A procedure is described for simultaneous determination of estriol, estrone and 17-estradiol in human urine. After acid hydrolysis of the sulphate conjugates, the estrogens were extracted into diethyl ether. The ether extracts were concentrated and applied directly to an HPLC column. Using a 25 cm C-18 column and acetonitrile-water modified by the addition of -cyclodextrin as mobile phase, the separation of estriol, estradiol and estrone was achieved within 20 minutes. The extraction of estrogens from the biological matrix is excellent. Estrogens were detected using a UV-detector (280 nm) or a spectrofluorimetric detector (_exc=280nm, _em=312 nm). The latter detection system has been used for the determination of estrogens in the urine of non-pregnant women. The procedure is simple and can be used in clinical practice.     

Quantification of flavan-3-ols and phenolic acids in milk-based food products by reversed-phase liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

This article reports the development and validation of a liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) method for the comprehensive quantification of flavan-3-ol and phenolic acid constituents of milk-based food products. Isotope dilution-based sample preparation consisted of protein precipitation using acidic methanol enriched with the stable isotope labelled internal standards and ultrafiltration to preserve overall polyphenol composition, but to eliminate milk proteins in order to comply with LC. Reversed-phase liquid chromatography was optimized to achieve separation of 22 analytes in 8 min in order to reduce suppression effects, achieve a wide dynamic range and, most importantly, to resolve isomeric compounds. Negative-ion electrospray mass spectrometric detection and fragmentation of analytes was optimized, final transitions were selected for maximized selectivity, reliable quantification and reduction of false positives. The quantitative performance of the method was validated, the main features include: (1) range of lower limits of detection 5–15 ng/mL for flavan-3-ols, 60–100 ng/mL for procyanidins, 1–60 ng/mL for other phenolic acids, (2) lower limits of quantification 15–45 ng/mL for flavan-3-ols, 200–300 ng/mL for procyanidins, 3–200 ng/mL for other phenolic acids, (3) averaged intra-day precision 9.5%, (4) calibrated range 60–300,000 ng/mL for flavan-3-ols, 900–900,000 ng/mL for procyanidins, 9–225,000 ng/mL for other phenolic acids, (5) averaged accuracy 99.5%. Applications for yoghurt and ice-cream products are given. The presented data suggest that this method will help to better characterize the polyphenol composition of milk-based food products for quality control, assessment of dietary intake and for polyphenol bioavailability/bioefficacy studies.     

1H and 13C NMR characteristics of β-blockers

The β-blockers are important drugs and decades of clinical experience proved their high medical status. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no complete assignment of (1)H and (13)C NMR resonances of popular representatives: acebutolol, alpenolol, pindolol, timolol and propranolol and the published NMR data on carvedilol and atenolol are incorrect. Therefore, (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy was applied for the characterization of a series of β-adrenolytics: carvedilol (1), pindolol (2), alprenolol (3), acebutolol (4), atenolol (5), propranolol (6) and timolol (7). Two-dimensional NMR experiments (COSY, HMQC, HMBC, NOESY) allowed the unequivocal assignment of (1)H and (13)C spectra for solution (DMSO-d(6) ). Salts and bases can be easily distinguished based on (13)C chemical shifts which are within 65.0-65.5 ppm (OC2) and 46.9-47.0 (NC3) for hydrochlorides and larger, ca. 68.4 ppm (OC2) and 50.3-52.6 (NC3) for bases. NMR data of 1-7 should be included in pharmacopoeias.     

Analysis of multicomponent mixture and simultaneous enantioresolution of proteinogenic and non-proteinogenic amino acids by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography using chiral variants of Sanger’s reagent

Four chiral derivatizing reagents (CDR 1–4), namely, FDNP-l-Ala, FDNP-l-Val, FDNP-l-Phe, and FDNP-l-Leu, were synthesized using microwave (MW) irradiation by substituting one of the fluorine atoms in difluoro dinitro benzene (DFDNB) with l-Ala, l-Val, l-Phe, and l-Leu (CDR 1–4). The other set of CDRs, namely, FDNP-l-Phe-NH₂, FDNP-l-Val-NH₂, and FDNP-l-Leu-NH₂, was also prepared. These reagents were used for synthesis of diastereomers of 18 proteinogenic and 08 non-proteinogenic amino acids, which were resolved by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography using C18 column and gradient eluting mixture of aq.TFA and acetonitrile with UV detection at 340 nm. The reagents were used for resolution of a complex mixture of 18 racemic proteinogenic amino acids in a single chromatographic run of 65 min and to determine concentration of the d-amino acid in a solution of dl-amino acid. The resolution (R _S) and selectivity (α) obtained for the two sets of diastereomers were compared among themselves and among the two groups. The method was validated for accuracy, precision, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantification. LOD is 0.001% impurity of d-enantiomer.     

Retention and selectivity of basic drugs on solid-phase extraction sorbents: Application to direct determination of β-blockers in urine

Seven solid phase sorbent materials with reversed-phase, mixed-mode interactions (ion-exchange and reversed-phase), and molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP), namely Oasis HLB, Oasis MAX, Oasis MCX, Bond Elute Plexa, Bond Elute Plexa PAX, Bond Elute Plexa PCX, and SupelMIP sorbents, were investigated. The present study was focused on the retention and elution of pharmaceutically active substances based on several analyte-sorbent interaction properties. Basic drugs, such as β-blockers (i.e., atenolol, pindolol, acebutolol, metoprolol, labetalol, and propranolol) were selected as the model compounds for this study. These compounds are frequently encountered in anti-doping tests. The extraction efficiencies of the individual sorbents were compared based on the recovery of known amounts of the targeted analytes in a metered elution volume (500 μL) in three separate elution fractions. The elution efficiency of the total amount of the target analytes on various sorbents was not appreciably influenced by the volume of eluent required for complete elution. Based on the small matrix effects and clear baseline, SupelMIP was the most suitable sorbent for urine analysis. The relative analyte recoveries of the SPE-HPLC procedure proved satisfactory for the range from 94 % to 105 %, with an RSD ranging from 2 % to 4 %. The regression equations for all of the targeted compounds exhibited excellent linearity (r ² ?>?0.9991) over the range of 10 to 1000 ng mL^–1. The limits of detection and quantification for the selected β-blocker compounds in urine were in the ranges of 0.6 to 2.0 ng mL^–1 and 2.0 to 6.7 ng mL^–1, respectively.