Illicit Drug Analysis Using Two-Dimension Liquid Chromatography/Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

For the identification of illicit drugs in forensic toxicological casework, analysis can be delayed and potentially compromised due to lengthy sample preparation techniques. For a complete forensic identification, a robust methodology is required and the current trend in forensic laboratories is the use of liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC/MS or LC/MS-MS). However, to achieve satisfactory results, extensive and time-consuming sample preparation protocols are required to reach sub-ng/mL levels. The concept of sequential 2D extraction was designed to capture the retention behavior of a target analyte in response to various extraction parameters. Therefore, optimized conditions can be selected to excise a region of interest during extraction. The utilization of multi-dimensional chromatography combined with a micro-extraction technique was evaluated to decrease sample preparation time while enhancing the separation integrity observed with current single-dimensional chromatography techniques. A wide range of illicit drugs were spiked in human urine and extracted using three extraction protocols for performance evaluation. The extraction process was performed using a reversed-phase solid phase extraction (SPE) in 1D, 2D-optimized, 2D-sequential and cumulative elution modes. The chosen 2D chromatography conditions that were used in this application were identified using a 6 × 6 automated methods development protocol (144 methods total). The extraction of urine samples containing target analytes was completed in less than 20 min. The analysis was performed using 200 µL of the final organic solvent (MeOH) extracts. The limit of detection for all drugs was measured at 100 pg/mL (ppt) from a 1 mL sample volume. Several analytes showed excellent signal at 10 pg/mL (ppt).