Supercritical fluid chromatography mass spectrometry as an emerging technique in doping control analysis

Doping is considered as cheating in sports and contradicts the ethics of sports. Anti-doping laboratories accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency target the administration of prohibited compounds or application of prohibited methods by means of instrumental analysis. The majority of methods is based on mass spectrometry with prior chromatographic separation. While gas chromatography and liquid chromatograph represent the currently applied techniques, SFC separation recently emerged as well. Herein we review scientific literature and research projects addressing the analysis of prohibited substances in sports, their metabolites, and biomarkers by SFC-MS(/MS). Currently used instrumental designs and aspects of method development including sample preparation are introduced and selected examples are presented. Furthermore, advantages over other methods are evaluated and potential areas of application and further perspectives are discussed. (c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This article reviews the analysis methods of prohibited substances, their metabolites, and biomarkers in sports using SFC-MS(/MS). The current instrumental designs and method development, including sample preparation, are introduced, and selected examples are presented. Furthermore, the advantages of this method over others are evaluated, and potential areas of application and future perspectives are discussed.