DIRECT ANALYSIS OF METHAMPHETAMINE AND AMPHATAMINE ENANTIOMERS IN HUMAN URINE BY SEMI-MICROCOLUMN HPLC/ELECTROSPRAY IONIZATION MASS SPECTROMETRY

Abstract

Semi-microcolumn high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a columnswitching system was connected to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) for the analysis of methamphetamine (MA) and amphetamine (AP), a main metabolite of MA. Urine samples were directly introduced to the system. After removal of other components of the sample matrix by the column-switching process, both MA and AP were successfully analyzed with enantiomeric resolution by the use of β-cyclodextrin phenylcarbamate-bonded (phCD) semi-microcolumn, accompanied by spectral information obtained with ESI-MS. Linear calibration curves were obtained for all the analytes throughout the concentration range from 1 ng/ml to 5 μg/ml. The relative standard deviation for peak area ranged from 1.41 to 2.07% at 0.1 μg/ml for the four enantiomer peaks. Detection limits observed for MA and AP enantiomers were 20 ng/ml and 50 ng/ml in the spectrum scanning mode, and 0.5 ng/ml and 1 ng/ml in the single ion monitoring (SIM) mode, respectively. The HPLC/ESI-MS system studied here appeared highly sensitive and useful towards its forensic applications.