Determination of amphetamine, methamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine in urine by online solid-phase extraction and ion-pairing liquid chromatography with detection by electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 2005;19(6):775-80. doi: 10.1002/rcm.1856.

Abstract

A method using an online solid-phase extraction (SPE) and ion-pairing liquid chromatography with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ES-MS/MS) was developed for determination of amphetamine (Amp), methamphetamine (mAmp), 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), 3,4-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA), and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in urine samples. A SPE cartridge column with both hydrophilic and lipophilic functions was utilized for online extraction. A reversed-phase C18 LC column was employed for LC separation and MS/MS was used for detection. Trifluoroacetic acid was added to the mobile phase as an ion-pairing reagent. This method was fully automated and the extraction and analysis procedures were controlled by a six-port switch valve. Recoveries ranging from 85-101% were measured. Good linear ranges (10-500 ng/mL) for Amp and mAmp were determined. For MDA, MDMA and MDEA, dual linear ranges were obtained from 5-100 and 100-500 ng/mL, respectively. The detection limit of each analytical compound, based on a signal-to-noise ratio of 3, ranged from 1-3 ng/mL. The applicability of this newly developed method was examined by analyzing several urine samples from drug users. Good agreement was obtained between the results from this method and a literature GC/MS method.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amphetamines / urine*
  • Chemical Fractionation / methods
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / methods*
  • Humans
  • Microchemistry / methods
  • Online Systems
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Robotics / methods
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / methods*
  • Substance Abuse Detection / methods*
  • Substance-Related Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Substance-Related Disorders / urine*
  • Urinalysis / methods*

Substances

  • Amphetamines