title: Ultrafast Screening of Synthetic Cannabinoids and Synthetic Cathinones in Urine by RapidFire-Tandem Mass Spectrometry.
abstract: Screening for emerging drugs of abuse, specifically synthetic cathinones and synthetic cannabinoids, is difficult for high-throughput laboratories as immunoassay kits are often unavailable. Consequently, most laboratories employ liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) screening, which can be complex and time consuming as these techniques may require involved sample preparation and lengthy analysis times. The increasing demand for novel psychoactive substance testing necessitates alternative screening methods that are sensitive, fast and versatile. The RapidFire tandem mass spectrometry system (RF-MS-MS) provides a rapid and highly specific screen for these emerging drugs of abuse with minimal sample preparation and an instrumental analysis time of <14 s per sample. Presented here are two RF-MS-MS screening methods used to analyze 28 emerging drugs of abuse, 14 synthetic cannabinoids and 14 synthetic cathinones, in urine with run times of 9 and 12.6 s, respectively. Sample preparation and hydrolysis were performed in a 96-well plate with one multiple reaction monitoring transition used for the identification of each compound. Eighteen thousand urine specimens were screened by liquid-liquid extraction followed by LC-MS-MS analysis, and the results were compared with those obtained using the RF-MS-MS screening method. The analytical data illustrate the advantages of the RF-MS-MS methods.
authors.affiliation: Division of Forensic Toxicology, Armed Forces Medical Examiner System, 115 Purple Heart Drive, Dover, DE 19902, USA jillian.r.neifeld.ctr@mail.mil.
authors.forename: Jillian R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Neifeld
authors.affiliation: Division of Forensic Toxicology, Armed Forces Medical Examiner System, 115 Purple Heart Drive, Dover, DE 19902, USA.
authors.forename: Laura E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Regester
authors.affiliation: Division of Forensic Toxicology, Armed Forces Medical Examiner System, 115 Purple Heart Drive, Dover, DE 19902, USA.
authors.forename: Justin M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Holler
authors.affiliation: Division of Forensic Toxicology, Armed Forces Medical Examiner System, 115 Purple Heart Drive, Dover, DE 19902, USA.
authors.forename: Shawn P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Vorce
authors.affiliation: Division of Forensic Toxicology, Armed Forces Medical Examiner System, 115 Purple Heart Drive, Dover, DE 19902, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Magluilo
authors.affiliation: Division of Forensic Toxicology, Armed Forces Medical Examiner System, 115 Purple Heart Drive, Dover, DE 19902, USA.
authors.forename: Gerardo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.affiliation: Division of Forensic Toxicology, Armed Forces Medical Examiner System, 115 Purple Heart Drive, Dover, DE 19902, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas Z
authors.initials: TZ
authors.lastname: Bosy
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000652:urine*; D002186:Cannabinoids / Q000652:urine*; D006801:Humans; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D002186:Cannabinoids; C023665:cathinone