GC-MS studies on side chain regioisomers related to substituted methylenedioxyphenethylamines: MDEA, MDMMA, and MBDB.
Journal of Chromatographic Science October 1, 2010 Tamer Awad, Tarek Belal, Hadir M Maher et al.
Three drugs of abuse—MDEA, MDMMA, and MBDB—and seven additional side chain regioisomers share the same molecular weight (207) and major mass spectral fragments (m/z 72 and 135/136), making them difficult to distinguish by routine mass spectrometry. The authors evaluated trifluoroacetyl, pentafluoropropionyl, and heptafluorobutryl derivatives of the primary and secondary amines using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. These derivatives produced significantly individualized mass spectra with unique fragment ions that allowed specific side chain identification. Trifluoroacetyl and heptafluorobutryl derivatives provided the most specific ions for distinguishing the compounds, and all perfluoroacyl derivatives showed reasonable resolution on the polar Rtx-200 stationary phase.