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A fast screening MALDI method for the detection of cocaine and its metabolites in hair
Author(s) -
Vogliardi Susanna,
Favretto Donata,
Frison Giampietro,
Ferrara Santo Davide,
Seraglia Roberta,
Traldi Pietro
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.475
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9888
pISSN - 1076-5174
DOI - 10.1002/jms.1463
Subject(s) - benzoylecgonine , chemistry , trifluoroacetic acid , chromatography , analyte , mass spectrometry , matrix (chemical analysis) , sample preparation , metabolite , biochemistry
Matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionisation (MALDI) mass spectrometry was used for the rapid detection of cocaine, benzoylecgonine and cocaethylene in hair. Different MALDI sample preparation procedures have been tested and the employment of a multi‐layer ‘graphite–sample–electrosprayed α‐cyano‐4‐hydroxycinnamic acid (HCCA)’ yielded the best results for standard solutions of the target analytes. The same approach was subsequently applied to hair samples that were known to contain cocaine, benzoylecgonine and cocaethylene, as determined by a classical GC‐MS method. It was however necessary to extract hair samples by incubating them in methanol/trifluoroacetic acid for a short time (15 min) at 45 °C; 1 µl of the obtained supernatant was deposed on a metal surface treated with graphite, and HCCA was electrosprayed on it. This procedure successfully suppressed matrix peaks and was effective in detecting all the target analytes as their protonated species. The results obtained give further confirmation of the effectiveness of the MALDI for detecting drugs and their metabolites in complex biological matrices. The method can be useful as a fast screening procedure to detect the presence of cocaine and metabolites in hair samples. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.