title: Improved GC method for the determination of the active principles of Catha edulis.
abstract: The GC method previously reported by our research group for the analysis of the active principles of Catha edulis, i.e. cathine, cathinone and phenylpropanolamine, was considerably improved. N-methyl-N-trimethylsilyl-trifluoroacetamide (MSTFA) as derivatizing agent was employed, thus allowing an accurate determination of the analytes and a suitable internal standard for quantitative analyses (nicotinamide) was introduced. Moreover the chromatographic conditions were carefully studied to improve the separation of the alkaloids and sensitivity. To this end different chromatographic capillary columns and temperature gradients were investigated. The optimized GC method was validated and resulted adequate for the application in forensic analysis. Finally on behalf of the Tribunal, C. edulis vegetable material seized by the police in northern Italy was analyzed, the quantity of cathine ranging from 0.095 to 0.29%, the quantity of PPA from 0.010 to 0.21% and the quantity of cathinone from 0.025 to 0.374% of the weight of the vegetable material.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Luigi Mangiagalli 25, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dell'acqua
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Roda
authors.forename: Sebastiano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arnoldi
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rusconi
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Turati
authors.forename: Veniero
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gambaro
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000032:analysis; D029754:Catha / Q000737:chemistry*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D007558:Italy; D010665:Phenylpropanolamine / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; C005331:norpseudoephedrine; D010665:Phenylpropanolamine; C023665:cathinone