Jones Sydney, Sisco Edward, Marginean Ioan
The George Washington University, 1918 F Street, NW Washington, DC 20052, USA.
National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA.
Anal Methods. 2020 Dec 7;12(45):5433-5441. doi: 10.1039/d0ay01650k. Epub 2020 Nov 5.
One of the several classes of novel psychoactive substances (NPSs) that present analytical challenges for forensic chemists is benzodiazepines. Like other NPS classes, the emergence of new compounds within this class continues, creating a need for the development of new techniques and methods that allow for rapid detection and identification of these compounds in forensics laboratories. This work investigates the use of thermal desorption direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (TD-DART-MS) as a tool for the rapid and sensitive detection of benzodiazepines. A suite of 19 benzodiazepines were investigated to determine their representative responses. The limits of detection (LODs) for these compounds were found to range from 0.05 ng to 8 ng. Competitive ionization studies highlighted that the detection of these compounds in the presence of cutting agents and low amounts of heroin was possible. Additionally, the presence of three complex background matrices that are common in trace detection applications (artificial fingerprint residues, dirt, and plasticizers) was investigated and was shown to have a minimal effect on the detection of these compounds. TD-DART-MS was demonstrated as a potentially powerful tool for rapid on-site or laboratory-based screening.
对法医化学家来说，具有分析挑战性的新型精神活性物质（NPS）类别之一是苯二氮卓类药物。与其他NPS类别一样，该类别中新化合物不断出现，因此需要开发新的技术和方法，以便在法医实验室中快速检测和鉴定这些化合物。这项工作研究了热脱附实时直接分析质谱法（TD-DART-MS）作为快速灵敏检测苯二氮卓类药物的工具的应用。研究了一组19种苯二氮卓类药物，以确定它们的代表性响应。发现这些化合物的检测限在0.05纳克至8纳克之间。竞争性电离研究表明，在存在切割剂和少量海洛因的情况下也能够检测到这些化合物。此外，还研究了痕量检测应用中常见的三种复杂背景基质（人工指纹残留、污垢和增塑剂）的存在情况，结果表明它们对这些化合物的检测影响极小。TD-DART-MS被证明是一种用于快速现场或实验室筛查的潜在强大工具。
