Multi-residue analysis of eight thioamphetamine designer drugs in human urine by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

An analytical procedure for the simultaneous determination in human urine of several thioamphetamine designer drugs (2C-T and ALEPH series) is reported. The quantitative analysis was performed by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry and has been fully validated. The mass spectrometer was operated in positive-ion, selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode. In order to minimize interferences with matrix components and to preconcentrate target analytes, solid-phase extraction was introduced in the method as a clean-up step. The entire method was validated for selectivity, linearity, precision and accuracy. The method turned out to be specific, sensitive, and reliable for the analysis of amphetamine derivatives in urine samples. The calibration curves were linear over the concentration range of 1 to 100 ng mL(-1) for all drugs with correlation coefficients that exceeded 0.996. The lower limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) ranged from 1.2 to 4.9 ng mL(-1) and from 3.2 to 9.6 ng mL(-1), respectively. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.