A. Ramseier et al., Confirmation testing of amphetamines and designer drugs in human urine by capillary electrophoresis-ion trap mass spectrometry, ELECTROPHOR, 21(2), 2000, pp. 380-387
Monitoring of amphetamines and designer drugs in human urine is a timely to
pic in clinical toxicology, surveillance of drug substitution, forensic sci
ence, drug testing at the workplace, and doping control. Confirmation testi
ng of urinary amphetamine, methamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetami
ne (MDMA, Ecstasy) and 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) by capillary ele
ctrophoresis (CE) combined with atmospheric pressure electrospray ionizatio
n and ion trap mass spectrometry (MS) is described. Using an aqueous pH 4.6
buffer composed of ammonium acetate/acetic acid, CE-MS and CE-MS2 provided
data that permitted the unambiguous confirmation of these drugs in externa
l quality control urines. Furthermore, other drugs of abuse present in alka
line urinary extracts, including methadone and morphine, could also be moni
tored. The data presented illustrate that the sensitivity achieved with the
benchtop MS is comparable to that observed by CE with UV absorption detect
ion. CE-MS2 is further shown to be capable of identifying comigrating compo
unds, including the comigration of amphetamine with nicotine.