title: Analysis of semivolatile pharmaceuticals and pollutants in organic micro extracts using hot cell membrane inlet mass spectrometry.
abstract: This paper presents the first membrane inlet method that can be used together with field portable mass spectrometers for the analysis of semivolatile pharmaceuticals (pethidine, benzophenone, and cocaine) and environmental pollutants (terbutryne and butylated hydroxyl toluene (BHT)) dissolved in organic micro extracts. A microliter of the organic extract is simply injected into a closed hot cell membrane inlet (hc-MIMS), and an electron ionization mass spectrum of the vaporized semivolatile sample molecules can be recorded shortly thereafter. Detection limits at low picomole quantities or low/sub ng/microL concentrations in the extract are demonstrated for solutes in methanol, ethanol, acetone, and toluene. A linear correlation between analyte concentration and signal was found in the range of 1-100 ng/microL, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was approximately 10%. As a practical example we demonstrate the detection of cocaine in extracts from dried coca leaves. The analysis of organic micro extracts using hc-MIMS represents a considerable extension of the type and complexity of analytes that can be measured using a field portable MIMS system, since it does not require special and field tedious modifications to the standard MIMS system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 5, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhining
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Stig
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pedersen-Bjergaard
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Svensmark
authors.forename: Frants R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Lauritsen
mesh_terms: D001577:Benzophenones / Q000032:analysis; D002084:Butylated Hydroxytoluene / Q000032:analysis; D003042:Cocaine / Q000032:analysis; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008614:Meperidine / Q000032:analysis; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis*; D014227:Triazines / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D014835:Volatilization
chemical_list: D001577:Benzophenones; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D014227:Triazines; D002084:Butylated Hydroxytoluene; C047723:benzophenone; D008614:Meperidine; D003042:Cocaine; C010347:terbutryne