Determination of methylamphetamine and related compounds in human urine byhigh performance liquid chromatography electrospray mass spectrometry

A study of liquid chromatography/electrospray/mass spectrometry (LC/ES/MS) for the determination of methylamphetamine and related compounds (amphetami ne, ephedrine, phenylpropanolamine) in human urine was undertaken. We asses sed the effect of collision induced dissociation (CID) spectra generated by varying exit voltage of capillary and skimmer. The responses of ES/MS in d ifferent mobile phase and the effects of mobile phase modifier were examine d. An isocratic LC method using methanol/water (80/20) and acetic acid (0.0 01%) as a modifier to separate these compounds was developed. Microporous u ltrafiltration technique was employed to pre-treat urine sample prior to LC /ES/MS analysis. Good recoveries for methylamphetamine and amphetamine were determined as well as linearity, detection limit and precision associated with this method were determined. Drug spiked urine samples and urine sampl es of methylamphetamine addicts were successfully measured by this newly de veloped method. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.