title: Screening determination of four amphetamine-type drugs in street-grade illegal tablets and urine samples by portable capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductivity detection.
abstract: A simple and inexpensive method for the identification of four substituted amphetamines, namely, 3,4-methylenedioxy methamphetamine (MDMA), methamphetamine (MA), 3,4-methylenedioxy amphetamine (MDA) and 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-ethylamphetamine (MDEA) was developed using an in-house constructed semi-automated portable capillary electrophoresis instrument (CE) with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C(4)D). Arginine 10mM adjusted to pH4.5 with acetic acid was found to be the optimal background electrolyte for the CE-C(4)D determination of these compounds. The best detection limits achieved with and without a sample preconcentration process were 10ppb and 500ppb, respectively. Substituted amphetamines were found in different seized illicit club drug tablets and urine samples collected from different suspected users. Good agreement between results from CE-C(4)D and those with the confirmation method (GC-MS) was achieved, with correlation coefficients for the two pairs of data of more than 0.99.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Chemistry, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Hanoi University of Science, Vietnam National University, 19 Le Thanh Tong, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
authors.forename: Thi Anh Huong
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Chemistry, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Hanoi University of Science, Vietnam National University, 19 Le Thanh Tong, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
authors.forename: Thi Ngoc Mai
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Pham
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Chemistry, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Hanoi University of Science, Vietnam National University, 19 Le Thanh Tong, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
authors.forename: Thi Thao
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Ta
authors.affiliation: Center of Drugs Expertise, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Public Security, 99 Nguyen Tuan, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
authors.forename: Xuan Truong
authors.initials: XT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Chemistry, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Hanoi University of Science, Vietnam National University, 19 Le Thanh Tong, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
authors.forename: Thi Lien
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Food Control (NIFC), 13 Phan Huy Chu, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
authors.forename: Thi Hong Hao
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Le
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, Spitalstrasse 51, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Israel Joel
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Koenka
authors.affiliation: University Institute of Research in Police Sciences (IUICP), University of Alcalá, Ctra. Madrid, Barcelona Km 33.6, 28871 Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), Spain.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sáiz
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, Spitalstrasse 51, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Peter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Hauser
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Technology and Sustainable Development (CETASD), Hanoi University of Science, Nguyen Trai Street 334, Hanoi, Viet Nam. Electronic address: maithanhduc83@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Thanh Duc
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Mai
mesh_terms: D000662:Amphetamines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013607:Tablets / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000662:Amphetamines; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D013607:Tablets
keywords: Amphetamine-type (ATS) drugs; Capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C(4)D); Capillary electrophoresis (CE); Semi-automated portable instrument; Street-grade illegal tablets; Urine samples