Abstract
Purpose
The information on analytical methods for 4-quinazolinone recreational drugs, such as methaqualone, etaqualone and 2-methoxyqualone, is almost scant. In this study, product ion spectra of gas chromatography−tandem mass spectrometry (GC−MS/MS) with different collision energies were presented for these drugs. Because 2-methoxyqualone is a new recreational drug discovered in dubious tablets very recently, much more detailed data obtained by different types of mass spectrometry instruments, and quantification data of 2-methoxyqualone in the tablet together with its validation were demonstrated.
Methods
The methods for analyses were GC−MS/MS, high-resolution ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography−tandem mass spectrometry.
Results
The GC−MS/MS product ion spectra of the three compounds with different collision energies have not been reported before. They were very useful to tentatively identify unknown compounds. If a reference standard is available, the final identification and quantification can be achieved by measurements of product ion spectra and in selected reaction monitoring mode very easily by GC−MS/MS. The final identification and quantification for the new 2-methoxyqualone were performed in this way. The content of the compound was 69.8 ± 0.5% (w/w) in the tablet. Acetaminophen and caffeine coexisted in the tablet with approximate concentrations at 10 and 5%, respectively.
Conclusions
In this article, we have presented product ion spectra of methaqualone, etaqualone and 2-methoxyqualone at different collision energies by GC−MS/MS for the first time. In addition, this is the first paper to describe the details of quantification of 2-methoxyqualone in the authentic seized product.
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Acknowledgements
This study was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81860331).
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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors. The drug analyses were requested by the judicial authorities of the Inner Mongolia Hohhot City in China.
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Yang, H., Wang, Y., Liu, J. et al. The next addiction-causing drug class 4-quinazolinone derivatives: analyses of methaqualone analogs including recently discovered 2-methoxyqualone by different modes of mass spectrometry. Forensic Toxicol 41, 59–70 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-022-00631-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-022-00631-z