Analysis of synthetic phenethylamine street drugs using direct sample analysis coupled to accurate mass time of flight mass spectrometry.
Serious health complications and fatal overdoses have brought phenethylamine, otherwise known as 2C, drug abuse to the public's attention. These compounds are 2C-X series analogs of mescaline. The name "2C" results from the two carbons in the ethyl chain. The substituents on these emerging drugs are constantly changed in order to avoid listing as controlled substances. These synthetic drugs are marketed as having affects similar to LSD and MDMA and are typically consumed sublingually via blotter paper. Twenty-six commercially available standards were analyzed using a direct sample analysis technique coupled to accurate mass time of flight mass spectrometry. Direct sample analysis is an ambient ionization technique employing direct charge transfer from nitrogen reagent gas resulting in ionization and in-source collision induced dissociation. Mass spectral analysis was used to determine the fragmentation patterns of the 2C compounds. While the mass spectral data for the compounds are similar in fragmentation, they also display differences that allow the analyst to distinguish which compound is present. The fragmentation patterns, high-resolution mass spectral data, and isotope ratios are used to qualitatively identify two blotter paper street samples that were extracted together. As these drugs are emerging substances of abuse, there are no generally accepted protocols for this analysis. Additionally, presumptive, or screening, tests have not been widely developed for these materials. Direct sample analysis allows for a quick screening of seized compounds resulting in a preliminary identification, which can then be analyzed and confirmed using other analytical techniques.
The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 107 Althouse Laboratories, University Park, PA 16802, United States.
Maura K
MK
McGonigal
University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, 006 Meyerhoff Chemistry Building, Baltimore, MD 21250, United States.
Joshua A
JA
Wilhide
Penn State Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, 323 Life Sciences Building, University Park, PA 16802, United States.
Philip B
PB
Smith
Perkin Elmer, 710 Bridgeport Avenue, Shelton, CT 06484, United States.
Noelle M
NM
Elliott
The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 107 Althouse Laboratories, University Park, PA 16802, United States. Electronic address: fld3@psu.edu.
Frank L
FL
Dorman
D015198:Designer Drugs / Q000737:chemistry*; D053593:Forensic Toxicology / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010627:Phenethylamines / Q000737:chemistry*; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000737:chemistry*
D015198:Designer Drugs; D010627:Phenethylamines; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs
2C; Designer drugs; Direct sample analysis; Novel psychoactive substances; Synthetic phenethylamines