Suspect Screening of Fentanyl Analogs Using Matrix-Assisted Ionization and a Miniature Mass Spectrometer with a Custom Expandable Mass Spectral Library

Abstract

The reliable identification of fentanyl and its analogs is of great significance for public security. However, with the growing prevalence of fentanyl compounds, current analytical strategies cannot fully meet the need for fast and high-throughput detection. In this study, a simple, rapid, and on-site analytical protocol was developed based on a miniature mass spectrometer. A dramatically simplified workflow was implemented using matrixassisted ionization, bypassing complex sample pretreatment and chromatographic separation. The tandem mass spectrometry (MS/ MS) capability afforded by the miniature ion trap mass spectrometer facilitated the investigation of fragmentation patterns for 49 fentanyl analogs during collision-induced dissociation, revealing valuable information on marker fragment ions and characteristic neutral loss. Calculations on Laplacian bond order values further verified the mass spectrometric behavior. A computation-assisted expandable mass spectral library was constructed in-house for fentanyl compounds. Smart suspect screening was carried out based on the full-scan MS and MS/MS data. The present study demonstrates an appealing potential for forensic applications, enabling streamlined screening for the presence of illicit fentanyl compounds at the point of seizures of suspect samples.

Reconciling Assumptions in Bottom‐Up and Top‐Down Approaches for Estimating Aerosol Emission Rates From Wildland Fires Using Observations From FIREX‐AQ

“…Total PM is calculated as the sum of organic aerosol (OA), sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, and black carbon aerosol (BC) reported at standard temperature and pressure conditions and converted to ambient volumetric units. All components of the submicron non‐refractory total PM concentrations are measured using an Aerodyne Time of Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (ToF‐AMS) (Canagaratna et al., 2007 ; DeCarlo et al., 2006 ; Guo et al., 2021 ). Refractory BC mass concentrations are provided by a Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2, Droplet Measurement Technologies) (Gao et al., 2007 ).…”

Online hyphenation of in-capillary aptamer-functionalized solid-phase microextraction and extraction nanoelectrospray ionization for miniature mass spectrometry analysis

“…Thus, the need for timeconsuming and labor-intensive sample preparation and chromatographic separation procedures can be eliminated. [13][14][15] The methodologies coupling ambient ionization with miniature MS have demonstrated outstanding performance across a broad range of in-field applications, such as food safety, [16][17][18][19] consumer product safety, 18,[20][21][22] environmental monitoring, [23][24][25][26][27] life sciences, [28][29][30] clinical diagnosis, [31][32][33] public security, [34][35][36][37][38] and forensic investigation. [39][40][41] Despite the ever-growing applications in various fields, the direct analysis of trace amounts of analytes in raw samples with complex matrices remains challenging for the following reasons:…”

“…Thus, the need for time-consuming and labor-intensive sample preparation and chromatographic separation procedures can be eliminated. 13–15 The methodologies coupling ambient ionization with miniature MS have demonstrated outstanding performance across a broad range of in-field applications, such as food safety, 16–19 consumer product safety, 18,20–22 environmental monitoring, 23–27 life sciences, 28–30 clinical diagnosis, 31–33 public security, 34–38 and forensic investigation. 39–41…”

Analysis of fragmentation pathways of fentanyl derivatives by electrospray ionisation high‐resolution mass spectrometry

“…Performed calculations on Laplacian bond order values further verified the mass spectrometric behaviour. The computer‐assisted library could be useful for the screening of new emerging fentanyl analogues even without reference standards 13 …”

“…The computer-assisted library could be useful for the screening of new emerging fentanyl analogues even without reference standards. 13 In our study, 33 different fentanyl derivatives (Figure 2 Stock solutions of these substances at a concentration of 0.1 mg/mL or 1.0 mg/mL were prepared in methanol. Working solutions at a concentration of 1.0 μg/mL made up by appropriate dilution with 0.1% aqueous formic acid solution were used for analysis.…”