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Simultaneous determination of new thioamphetamine designer drugs in plasma by capillary electrophoresis coupled with mass spectrometry
Author(s) -
Boatto Gianpiero,
Nieddu Maria,
Pirisi Maria Antonietta,
Dessì Giuseppina
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/rcm.3273
Subject(s) - chemistry , capillary electrophoresis , mass spectrometry , chromatography , designer drug , capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry , plasma , analytical chemistry (journal) , electrospray ionization , drug , pharmacology , medicine , physics , quantum mechanics
A simple method for the simultaneous identification and quantification of four 2,5‐methylenedioxy derivatives of 4‐thioamphetamine (ALEPH series) in plasma samples was developed. The method consists of solid‐phase extraction (SPE) using a Bond Elut C 18 cartridge and capillary electrophoresis coupled with electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (CE/ESI‐MS). The SPE method used required only simple steps and provided a clean extract from which identification of each drug was feasible, even at low concentrations. The method was validated according to international guidelines. The calibration curves were linear over the concentration range of 50 to 1000 ng/mL for all drugs with correlation coefficients that exceeded 0.998. The lower limits of detection of the drugs were 23–43 ng/mL. The absolute recoveries for the drugs were 64–92% and 75–96% at concentrations of 100 and 500 ng/mL, respectively. The validation data (precision, accuracy, and recovery) show the reproducibility and selectivity of the method. This clean and simple method allows the routine detection of designer drugs such as thioamphetamines which may become a serious problem in the control of illegal drugs. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.