Using ambient mass spectrometry and LC–MS/MS for the rapid detection and identification of multiple illicit street drugs

Abstract

In this study the recently developed technique of thermal desorption electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry (TD–ESI/MS) was applied to the rapid analysis of multiple controlled substances. With the reallocation of mass spectral resources [from a standard ESI source coupled with liquid chromatography (LC) to an ambient TD–ESI source], this direct-analysis technique allows the identification of a wider range of illicit drugs through a dual-working mode (pretreatment-free qualitative screening/conventional quantitative confirmation). Through 60-MRM (multiple reaction monitoring) analysis—in which the MS/MS process was programmed to sequentially scan 60 precursor ion/product ion transitions and, thereby, identify 30 compounds (two precursor/product ion transitions per compound)—of a four-component (drug) standard, the signal intensity ratios of each drug transition were comparable with those obtained through 8-MRM analysis, demonstrating the selectivity of TD–ESI/MS for the detection of multiple drugs. The consecutive analyses of tablets containing different active components occurred with no cross-contamination or interference from sample to sample, demonstrating the reliability of the TD–ESI/MS technique for rapid sampling (two samples min −1 ). The active ingredients in seized drug materials could be detected even when they represented less than 2 mg g −1 of the total sample weight, demonstrating the sensitivity of TD–ESI/MS. Combining the ability to rapidly identify multiple drugs with the “plug-and-play” design of the interchangeable ion source, TD–ESI/MS has great potential for use as a pretreatment-free qualitative screening tool for laboratories currently using LC–MS/MS techniques to analyze illicit drugs.

A Study of Opiate, Opiate Metabolites and Antihistamines in Urine after Consumption of Cold Syrups by LC-MS/MS

“…Ten participants (5 male and 5 female) aged 22-56 years with a mean weight of 67 kg were administered 10 mL of cold syrup after each meal three times a day for three days (72 h) according to suggested use described by the manufacturer. Urine samples were collected before and after oral administration of the cold syrup (i.e., before administration and 6,18,30,42,54,66,84,108, and 132 h after administration), and the samples were stored at 4 • C until analysis. All participants agreed this study and gave their informed consents before experiments.…”

“…Heroin, considered one of the most serious drugs abused worldwide, has led to numerous deaths-approximately 15,482 in 2017 [1]. In forensic science, several analytical methods, including gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) [2,3], GC-tandem MS (GC-MS/MS) [4,5], and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) [6,7], have been adapted for the identification of heroin, other opiates, and their metabolites.…”

Atmospheric Solids Analysis Probe Coupled to a Portable Mass Spectrometer for Rapid Identification of Bulk Drug Seizures

“…One of the main attractions of ambient ionization techniques is their ability to rapidly generate data with total analysis times, including sampling, of often less than 1 min versus the minutes, hours, or even days required for traditional LC– and GC–MS analyses. This ability to rapidly analyze samples lends itself well to the analysis and identification of drug seizures, and it is therefore unsurprising that a large amount of ambient ionization research had fallen in this area. − DART-MS is the most well-established ionization technique for such analyses, particularly in combination with the JEOL AccuTOF mass spectrometer which has been used to generate a large forensic drug library for use within the NIST-MS search program . It should be noted that the authors of this study suggest that the combination of ambient ionization with a mass spectrometry may not meet the SWGDRUG criteria for a category A technique and may therefore only be accepted as a category B technique.…”

Rapid Characterization of Drugs in Biological Fluid and Seized Material Using Thermal-Assisted Carbon Fiber Ionization Mass Spectrometry

“…Then, the porous solid-substrate-based ambient ionization techniques, such as paper spray ionization, , wooden-tip electrospray ionization, − carbon fiber spray ionization, and others, − had demonstrated their potential for rapid, direct, and in situ analysis of drugs in urine, blood, tissue, and tablets. − The characteristic ions were produced directly from analytes present in trace powders, biological fluids, and viscous samples on the solid substrate by adding a proper solvent and applying a high voltage to cause desorption and ionization. To further improve the sensitivity and selectivity of these methods, surface-coated paper spray ionization techniques were developed to analyze the therapeutic drugs in DBS. , Moreover, the thermal-desorption-based ionization methods, such as atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI), DART, and thermal desorption electrospray ionization, − suffered less from the matrix effects due to the two steps of desorption and ionization in time and space. Thus, the thermal-desorption-based direct ionization techniques were very important for analysis of biological samples, especially for illicit drug analysis in urine or blood.…”