The papers collected in this volume were presented at an International Conference that, with the same heading, was held at the Verona University, Italy, in June 1986. The meeting was organized by the Institute of Forensic Hedicine and the Laboratory of Medical Research of the University in cooperation with the Italian Group for Mass Spectrometry in Biochemistry and Medicine. The aim of the symposium was bringing together people, work ing in different branches of the wide field of modern analytical sciences, for promoting inter-disciplinary discussions and exchange of experiences. Actually it was felt that most of the analytical problems that very often have to be faced in quite different fields (chem istry, pharmacology, medicine, biology) have similar solutions, that could be made much easier by closer contac'cs among researches of these disciplines. Original papers and invited rewiews presented during the 3 days of the conference by leading experts gave an up-to-date outline of the modern analytical methods applied in pharmaceuti cal, biomedical and forensic sciences and a glimpse of the future perspectives."

This book deals with chromatographic and electrophoretic methods applied for the separation (quantitation and identification) of biologically relevant compounds. It is assumed that the potential reader is familiar with the basics of chromatographic and electromigration methods. Individual separation modes are dealt with to an extent which follows their applicability for biomedical purposes: liquid chromatography and electromigration methods are therefore highlighted.

Each chapter is completed with a list of recent literature covering the 1987-1997 period, which can be used for further guidance of the reader in his/her own field. The chapters have been written by specialists in a particular area and with an emphasis on applications to the biomedical field. This implies that theoretical and instrumental aspects are kept to a minimum which allows the reader to understand the text. Considerable attention is paid to method selection, detection and derivatization procedures and troubleshooting. The majority of examples given represent the analyses of typical naturally-occurring mixtures. Adequate attention is paid to the role of the biological matrix and sample pretreatment, and special attention is given to forensic, toxicological and clinical applications. The book is completed with an extensive Index of Compounds Separated.

The papers collected in this volume were presented at an International Conference that, with the same heading, was held at the Verona University, Italy, in June 1986. The meeting was organized by the Institute of Forensic Hedicine and the Laboratory of Medical Research of the University in cooperation with the Italian Group for Mass Spectrometry in Biochemistry and Medicine. The aim of the symposium was bringing together people, work ing in different branches of the wide field of modern analytical sciences, for promoting inter-disciplinary discussions and exchange of experiences. Actually it was felt that most of the analytical problems that very often have to be faced in quite different fields (chem istry, pharmacology, medicine, biology) have similar solutions, that could be made much easier by closer contac'cs among researches of these disciplines. Original papers and invited rewiews presented during the 3 days of the conference by leading experts gave an up-to-date outline of the modern analytical methods applied in pharmaceuti cal, biomedical and forensic sciences and a glimpse of the future perspectives.