title: Screening of seized emerging drugs by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array ultraviolet and mass spectrometric detection.
abstract: The use of psychoactive "designer drugs" has increased rapidly due to their varying and sometimes ambiguous legal status and their ready access via the Internet and at local "headshops." A quick screening method for samples containing these substances, using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array UV and mass spectrometric detection (UHPLC-PDA/UV-MS), is presented. The method enables the screening of a variety of samples containing emerging/reemerging drugs, including β-keto phenethylamines (cathinone derivatives), synthetic cannabinoids/cannabimimetics, and phenethylamine derivatives. The use of dual detectors not only provides molecular weight information but also differentiates the drugs by their categories and in some cases even their sub-categories. Moreover, ring positional isomers of cathinone and phenethylamine derivatives can be easily differentiated by their retention times and UV spectra.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Special Testing and Research Laboratory, 22624 Dulles Summit Court, Dulles, VA 20166, United States. Electronic address: li.li2@usdoj.gov.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20007, United States.
authors.forename: Ira S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Lurie
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000032:analysis; D002186:Cannabinoids / Q000032:analysis; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D015198:Designer Drugs / Q000737:chemistry*; D004340:Drug Contamination; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D010627:Phenethylamines / Q000032:analysis; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D002186:Cannabinoids; D015198:Designer Drugs; D010627:Phenethylamines; C023665:cathinone
keywords: 2C-compounds; Cathinones; Emerging drugs; Phenethylamines; Synthetic cannabinoids/cannabimimetics; UHPLC-PDA/UV–MS