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A high-sensitivity ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HR-TOFMS) method for screening synthetic cannabinoids and other drugs of abuse in urine

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Abstract

The continuing emergence of designer drugs imposes high demands on the scope and sensitivity of toxicological drug screening procedures. An ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HR-TOFMS) method was developed for screening and simultaneous confirmation of both designer drugs and other drugs of abuse in urine samples in a single run. The method covered selected synthetic cannabinoids and cathinones, amphetamines, natural cannabinoids, opioids, cocaine and other important drugs of abuse, together with their main urinary metabolites. The database consisted of 277 compounds with molecular formula and exact monoisotopic mass; retention time was included for 192 compounds, and primary and secondary qualifier ion exact mass for 191 and 95 compounds, respectively. Following a solid-phase extraction, separation was performed by UHPLC and mass analysis by HR-TOFMS. MS, and broad-band collision-induced dissociation data were acquired at m/z range 50–700. Compound identification was based on a reverse database search with acceptance criteria for retention time, precursor ion mass accuracy, isotopic pattern and abundance of qualifier ions. Mass resolving power in spiked urine samples was on average FWHM 23,500 and mass accuracy 0.3 mDa. The mean and median cut-off concentrations determined for 75 compounds were 4.2 and 1 ng/mL, respectively. The range of cut-off concentrations for synthetic cannabinoids was 0.2–60 ng/mL and for cathinones 0.7–15 ng/mL. The method proved to combine high sensitivity and a wide scope in a manner not previously reported in drugs of abuse screening. The method’s feasibility was demonstrated with 50 authentic urine samples.

Extracted ion chromatograms of metabolites of synthetic cannabinoids and their fragments, including a new common metabolite: JWH-072-propanoic acid

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Acknowledgements

The authors would thank the EU Commission (JUST/2009/DPIP/AG/0948 and JUST/2011/DPIP/AG/3597) for its financial support for the projects ‘Spice and synthetic cannabinoids’ as well as ‘Spice II Plus’.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forensic Toxicology Division, Department of Forensic Medicine, Hjelt Institute, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 40, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Mira Sundström, Anna Pelander & Ilkka Ojanperä

  2. Institute of Forensic Medicine, University Medical Center Freiburg, Albertstr. 9, 79104, Freiburg, Germany

    Verena Angerer, Melanie Hutter & Stefan Kneisel

  3. Hermann Staudinger Graduate School, University of Freiburg, Hebelstr. 27, 79104, Freiburg, Germany

    Verena Angerer, Melanie Hutter & Stefan Kneisel

Authors
  1. Mira Sundström
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  2. Anna Pelander
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  4. Melanie Hutter
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  5. Stefan Kneisel
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  6. Ilkka Ojanperä
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Correspondence to Mira Sundström.

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Sundström, M., Pelander, A., Angerer, V. et al. A high-sensitivity ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HR-TOFMS) method for screening synthetic cannabinoids and other drugs of abuse in urine. Anal Bioanal Chem 405, 8463–8474 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-013-7272-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-013-7272-8

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