Analysis of illegally distributed anabolic steroid products by liquid chromatography with identity confirmation by mass spectrometry or infrared spectrophotometry

Anabolic steroid products found in the illegal market are primarily oil-based injectables or tablets and often do not contain the ingredients declared on the label. An analytical scheme based on a reverse-phase liquid chromatographic (LC) system for screening, tentative identification, and quantitation is presented. Methanolic sample extracts are chromatographed on an octadecyl column using 2 mobile phases (methanol and (75 + 25) methanol-water) and tracked at 3 wavelengths (240, 210, and 280 nm) or with a photodiode array UV detector. Retention time ratios (RR) relative to testosterone and UV data are used for tentative identification. The same LC system serves as a cleanup and isolation step for identity confirmation by direct insertion probe mass spectrometry (MS) or Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry (FTIR). Recoveries range from 96.2 to 100.2% for 11 different steroids extracted from sesame oil. LC RR values for over 40 steroids, analytical results for typical products, and MS and FTIR spectra for selected compounds are presented.