Liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure ionization electrospray mass spectrometry determination of "hallucinogenic designer drugs" in urine of consumers.
Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis June 9, 2008 Simona Pichini, Mitona Pujadas, Emilia Marchei et al. 59 citations
A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method was developed to measure ten designer drugs—including MDMA, several 2C-series phenethylamines, m-CPP, and tryptamines—in urine samples from 32 consumers. Solid-phase extraction at pH 6 was applied to both non-hydrolyzed and enzymatically hydrolyzed urine, with 3,4-methylendioxypropylamphetamine (MDPA) as an internal standard. Chromatographic separation used a C18 column with a gradient of ammonium bicarbonate and acetonitrile, and detection was performed in single ion monitoring mode with electrospray ionization. Limits of quantification ranged from 20 to 60 ng/mL, calibration curves were linear to 2000 ng/mL, and mean recoveries were 55.4–95.6%. Higher analyte concentrations in hydrolyzed samples indicated the presence of conjugated compounds.