Simultaneous Determination of 5- and 6-APB in Blood, Other Body Fluids, Hair and Various Tissues by HPLC--MS-MS

Abstract

5-(2-Aminopropyl)benzofuran (5-APB) and 6-(2-aminopropyl)benzofuran (6-APB) are benzofuran analogues of amphetamine and belong to the category of new psychoactive substances. Despite already published fatal 5- and 6-APB intoxication after consumption of both substances in most cases, no sensitive method for the simultaneous detection and quantification of these new psychoactive compounds in human blood samples has yet been developed. Therefore, an easy and fast sample preparation and specific high-performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry methods for the determination of both substances in blood were established and validated. In a fatal intoxication in 2017 at the Institute of Forensic and Traffic Medicine in Heidelberg, Germany, concentrations of 850 (5-APB) and 300 ng/mL (6-APB) were determined in peripheral blood. Besides, other body fluids (central blood, urine and bile), hair and various tissues were examined to verify the presence of both compounds and to gain first insights into their distribution. In this publication, we show a method for the simultaneous determination of 5- and 6-APB in human samples by a chromatographic method and to investigate their distribution in the human body.