Department of Chemistry, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY), 1400 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12222, USA.
Analyst. 2013 Jun 21;138(12):3424-32. doi: 10.1039/c3an00360d. Epub 2013 May 2.
Rapid and versatile direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS) methods were developed for detection and characterization of synthetic cathinone designer drugs, also known as "bath salts". The speed and efficiency associated with DART-MS testing of such highly unpredictable samples demonstrate the technique as an attractive alternative to conventional GC-MS and LC-MS methods. A series of isobaric and closely related synthetic cathinones, alone and in mixtures, were differentiated using high mass accuracy and in-source collision induced dissociation (CID). Crime laboratories have observed a dramatic rise in the use of these substances, which has caused sample testing backlogs, particularly since the myriad of structurally related compounds are challenging to efficiently differentiate. This challenge is compounded by the perpetual emergence of new structural variants as soon as older generation derivatives become scheduled. Because of the numerous chemical substances that fall into these categories, along with the varying composition and complexity of mixtures of these drugs, DART-MS CID has the potential to dramatically streamline sample analysis, minimize the number of sample preparation steps, and enable rapid characterization of emerging structural analogs.
快速且多功能的实时直接分析质谱（DART-MS）方法被开发出来，用于检测和鉴定合成卡西酮类兴奋剂设计师药物，也被称为“浴盐”。DART-MS 对这种高度不可预测的样品进行测试的速度和效率表明，该技术是对传统 GC-MS 和 LC-MS 方法的有吸引力的替代方法。使用高质量精度和源内碰撞诱导解离（CID），可以区分一系列等压且密切相关的合成卡西酮，无论是单独存在还是混合存在。犯罪实验室已经观察到这些物质的使用急剧增加，这导致了样品测试积压，特别是因为这些结构相关的化合物数量众多，难以有效地进行区分。这种挑战因新结构变体的不断出现而加剧，因为一旦旧一代衍生物被列入管制，新的结构变体就会出现。由于属于这些类别的化学物质众多，以及这些药物混合物的组成和复杂性各不相同，DART-MS CID 有可能极大地简化样品分析，减少样品制备步骤的数量，并能够快速鉴定新出现的结构类似物。
