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A rapid and decisive determination of thiocyanate in blood by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

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Abstract

A rapid and reliable method was developed to identify and quantify the thiocyanate ion (SCN−) in blood. SCN− was reacted with NaAuCl4 to produce Au(SCN) −2 , which was extracted with octanol. The extract was injected directly into an electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometer. Quantification of SCN− was performed by selected reaction monitoring of the product ion SCN− at m/z 58 that derived from the Au(SCN) −2 precursor ion (m/z 313). SCN− could be measured in the quantification range of 0.05–10 μM in aqueous solution with a limit of detection of 0.013 μM within 15 min. Using only 5 μl of blood, the SCN− level of a victim who ingested sodium cyanide was determined to be 32.7 ± 2.1 μM, indicating a quite small increase from the control level of 15.5 ± 8.7 μM.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (no. 22590631) from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture of Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Legal Medicine, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, 1-20-1 Handayama, Hamamatsu, 431-3192, Japan

    Kayoko Minakata, Hideki Nozawa, Itaru Yamagishi, Kunio Gonmori, Koutaro Hasegawa, Kanako Watanabe & Osamu Suzuki

  2. Research Equipment Center, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, 1-20-1 Handayama, Hamamatsu, 431-3192, Japan

    Masako Suzuki

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  1. Kayoko Minakata
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  2. Hideki Nozawa
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  3. Itaru Yamagishi
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  4. Kunio Gonmori
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  5. Koutaro Hasegawa
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  6. Masako Suzuki
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  7. Kanako Watanabe
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  8. Osamu Suzuki
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Correspondence to Kayoko Minakata.

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Minakata, K., Nozawa, H., Yamagishi, I. et al. A rapid and decisive determination of thiocyanate in blood by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Forensic Toxicol 30, 45–50 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-011-0124-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-011-0124-3

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