Premium
Simultaneous Identification and δ 13 C Classification of Drugs Using GC with Concurrent Single Quadrupole and Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometers *
Author(s) -
Muccio Zeland,
Jackson Glen P.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2010.01594.x
Subject(s) - mass spectrometry , isotope , identification (biology) , quadrupole , quadrupole mass analyzer , radiochemistry , chemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , chromatography , nuclear physics , physics , atomic physics , botany , biology
In this study, δ 13 C values of six cocaine samples were identified and classified using a single quadrupole mass spectrometer and an isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) as simultaneous gas chromatography detectors. Our instrument modification is simple to use and is useful (i) when the sample is of limited size or can only be injected once, (ii) to help identify peaks in a complicated IRMS chromatogram, and (iii) to help differentiate very simple systems when impurity profiling is not possible. The EI‐MS confirmed the identity of cocaine in each sample. The IRMS data distinguished 12 of the 15 possible pair‐wise comparisons at the 95% CL. Three samples could not be differentiated by their δ 13 C ratios for cocaine. ANOVA demonstrated that the measurement variance was consistently larger than the sample variance. As the δ 13 C values clearly show, this technique enables the exclusion of a potential common source even when two samples have otherwise identical chemical and physical properties.