title: Development of a gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric drug screening method for the N-dealkylated metabolites of fentanyl, sufentanil, and alfentanil.
abstract: A sensitive, specific urinary assay for fentanyl, sufentanil, and alfentanil based on their N-dealkylated metabolites is described. Norfentanyl, norsufentanil-noralfentanil, and 2H5-norfentanyl are synthesized and characterized by standard analytical techniques. Derivatization of these secondary amines to yield the pentafluorobenzamides produces stable products with good gas chromatographic properties and unique, high-mass fragments in their mass spectra. These properties are utilized to develop a drug screening procedure based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to detect these major metabolites in human urine. The metabolites are isolated from urine samples by a liquid-liquid extraction procedure. The method allows for detection of metabolite concentrations as low as 0.3 ng/mL.
authors.affiliation: Alabama Reference Laboratory, Montgomery 36103, USA.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Valaer
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Andurkar
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: DeRuiter
mesh_terms: D015760:Alfentanil / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine*; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine*; D004350:Drug Residues / Q000032:analysis*; D005283:Fentanyl / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009294:Narcotics / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017409:Sufentanil / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine*
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D009294:Narcotics; C097508:norsufentanil; D015760:Alfentanil; C080127:norfentanyl; D017409:Sufentanil; C047303:noralfentanil; D005283:Fentanyl