alpha-Benzyl-N-methylphenethylamine (BNMPA), an impurity of illicit methamphetamine synthesis: I. Physical characterization and GC-MS analysis of BNMPA and anticipated metabolites in urine.
alpha-Benzyl-N-methylphenethylamine (BNMPA) is an impurity of illicit methamphetamine synthesis. We synthesized BNMPA and three of its anticipated metabolites: N-demethyl-alpha-benzyl-phenethylamine, 1,3-diphenyl-2-propanone, and 1,3-diphenyl-2-propanol. The purity and structure of these compounds and their heptafluorobutyric anhydride (HFBA) derivatives were confirmed by melting point, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance. A GC-MS method to detect these compounds in urine, using liquid-liquid extraction and derivatization with HFBA, was developed. Interference studies showed BNMPA and its proposed metabolites to be well-resolved from other common phenethylamine drugs and Health and Human Services-Forensic Urine Drug Testing required analytes. The limit of detection of BNMPA and its metabolites was 2.5 ng/mL; the limit of quantitation (LOQ) of the four compounds was 25 ng/mL. The calibration curves were generally linear from 25 to 500 ng/mL. Typical within-run coefficients of variation (CVs) at the LOQ ranged from 13 to 20% (n = 8). Between-run CVs over 1 month at 25 ng/mL were from 9 to 28%, and at 500 ng/mL, they were from 2.6 to 3.9%. The detection of BNMPA or its metabolites in urine samples may provide a marker of use of illicitly synthesized methamphetamine.
Moore
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Department of Pathology, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 23298-0165, USA.
Soine
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Poklis
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D000535:Aluminum / Q000737:chemistry; D002138:Calibration; D004347:Drug Interactions; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000737:chemistry; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007202:Indicators and Reagents / Q000737:chemistry; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008694:Methamphetamine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000652:urine; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D012015:Reference Standards
D005466:Fluorocarbons; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; C033094:perfluorobutyric acid; D008694:Methamphetamine; C006733:alpha-benzyl-N-methylphenethylamine; D000535:Aluminum