title: Desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry: direct toxicological screening and analysis of illicit Ecstasy tablets.
abstract: Desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI-MS) was used as a simple and rapid way to analyze drug tablets and powders without sample preparation. Experiments were performed with a home-made DESI source coupled to a triple-quadrupole linear-ion trap (QqQ(LIT)) mass spectrometer. Twenty-one commercial drugs as well as some illicit Ecstasy tablets and powders were analyzed. MS spectra almost exclusively showed the protonated or deprotonated ion of the drug after directing the pneumatically assisted electrospray onto the tablet's surface. With some tablets, inhomogeneity of the surface resulted in different spectra depending on the spot analyzed, thus showing that DESI could be used for imaging. Directly triggered MS/MS spectra were used for confirmatory analysis, with analysis times often below 10 s per tablet. For illicit Ecstasy tablets, DESI-MS, GC/MS and LC/MS analyses provided similar qualitative results for the main analytes. With MS/MS spectra library comparison or exact mass measurements, this technique could become very powerful for the rapid analysis of unknown tablets and shows the great potential of desorption techniques as an alternative to solution-based analysis.
authors.affiliation: Life Sciences Mass Spectrometry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, EPGL, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Luc Alexis
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Leuthold
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Mandscheff
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fathi
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giroud
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Augsburger
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Varesio
authors.forename: Gérard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hopfgartner
mesh_terms: D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / Q000379:methods*; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000032:analysis*; D011208:Powders; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / Q000379:methods*; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*; D013607:Tablets / Q000032:analysis*; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs; D011208:Powders; D013607:Tablets