Abstract: The method for the analysis of three chloramphenicols including chloramphenicol, thiamphenicol and florfenicol in chickens was developed by high performance liquid chromatography combined with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS-MS). The mass spectrometer was operated in the negative ion mode using multiple reaction monitoring for qualitative and quantitative analysis of these compounds at the same time. Only 1 g of sample was needed, and no solid phase extraction (SPE) procedure was adopted. The advantages of the method are simple operation, less organic chemicals consumed, and shorter operation time. The limits of detection (LOD) were 0.010μg/kg, and the limits of quantitation (LOQ) were 0.100 μg/kg. The linear plots were obtained between 0.050 and 1.00 μg/L. Overall recoveries were between 69.0%and 92.8%with relative standard deviations between 6.3%and 12.9%.

Key words: chicken , chloramphenicol, florfenicol, residue, thiamphenicol, high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry