title: Determination of levamisole and tetramisole in seized cocaine samples by enantioselective high-performance liquid chromatography and circular dichroism detection.
abstract: Levamisole, an anthelmintic drug, has been increasingly employed as an adulterant of illicit street cocaine over the last decade; recently, the use of tetramisole, the racemic mixture of levamisole and its enantiomer dexamisole, was also occasionally observed. A new enantioselective high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method, performed on cellulose tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) chiral stationary phases in normal-phase mode, was validated to determine the enantiomeric composition of tetramisole enantiomers in seized cocaine samples. Furthermore, the hyphenation of the validated HPLC method with a circular dichroism (CD) detection system allowed the direct determination of elution order and a selective monitoring of levamisole and dexamisole in the presence of possible interferences. The method was applied to the identification and quantitation of the two enantiomers of tetramisole in seized street cocaine samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Via Belmeloro 6, 40126 Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: carlo.bertucci@unibo.it.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bertucci
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Via Belmeloro 6, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tedesco
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Via Belmeloro 6, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Edoardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fabini
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Via Belmeloro 6, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Di Pietra
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Forensic Toxicology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 49, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Forensic Toxicology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 49, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garagnani
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Forensic Toxicology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 49, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Elia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Del Borrello
authors.affiliation: Department for Life Quality Studies, University of Bologna, Corso d'Augusto 237, 47921 Rimini, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenza
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Andrisano
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D002942:Circular Dichroism / Q000379:methods*; D003042:Cocaine / Q000737:chemistry*; D004340:Drug Contamination; D007978:Levamisole / Q000032:analysis*; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D013773:Tetramisole / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D007978:Levamisole; D013773:Tetramisole; D003042:Cocaine; C028075:dexamisole
keywords: Circular dichroism detection; Enantioselective HPLC; Levamisole; Seized cocaine samples; Tetramisole