A reliable method for structural analysis is crucial for the forensic investigation of new psychoactive substances (NPSs). Towards this end, mass spectrometry is one of the most efficient and facile methods for the identification of NPSs. However, the differentiation among 2-, 3-, and 4-fluoromethcathinones (o-, m-, and p-FMCs), which are ring-fluorinated positional isomers part of the major class of NPSs referred to as synthetic cathinones, remains a challenge. This is mostly due to their similar retention properties and nearly identical full scan mass spectra, which hinder their identification. In this study, we describe a novel and practical method for differentiating the fluorine substitution position on the phenyl ring of FMCs, based on energy-resolved mass spectrometry (ERMS) using an electron ionization-triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. ERMS measurements showed that the three FMC positional isomers exhibited differences in relative abundances of both the fluorophenyl cation (m/z 95) and the fluorobenzoyl cation (m/z 123). The logarithmic plots of the abundance ratio of these two cations (m/z 95 to m/z 123) as a function of the collision energy (CE) followed the order of o-FMC < p-FMC < m-FMC at each CE, which allowed the three isomers to be unambiguously and reliably differentiated. The theoretical dissociation energy calculations confirmed the relationship obtained by ERMS analyses, and additional ERMS measurements of methylmethcathinone positional isomers showed that the differences in abundance among the FMCs were attributed to the differences in their collision-induced dissociation reactivities arising from the halogen-induced resonance effects on the phenyl ring. Moreover, the method for differentiation described herein was successfully applied to the actual samples containing seized drugs. We expect that the described methodology will also contribute significantly to the reliable and accurate structural identification of NPSs in the fields of therapeutic, clinical, and forensic toxicology.
Keywords: abundance of product ions; dissociation energy; energy-resolved mass spectrometry; fluoromethcathinone; positional isomer differentiation.
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.