Identification and Quantitation of Cocaine, Benzoylecgonine, and Cocaethylene in Blood, Serum, and Plasma Using Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled to Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS)

Abstract

Cocaine is a widely abused stimulant. Numerous methods exist for the identification of the drug, or more commonly, one of its metabolites in urine. Urine testing is useful for most cases, but it is necessary to use other matrices in forensic situations and when subjects are anuric. We describe a novel method for the analysis of cocaine, benzoylecgonine, and cocaethylene in blood, serum, and plasma utilizing ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Sample preparation has been minimized to a simple deproteinization step in which each specimen is mixed with an acetonitrile–internal standard mixture. The method has excellent precision across the linear range of 25–2,000 ng/mL for each analyte. With a run-time of 4 min, this method provides a significant improvement over traditional GC/MS methods.