A capillary electrophoresis method using native β-cyclodextrin as a chiral selector simultaneously separates and detects the enantiomers of six amphetamine-related substances: ephedrine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA, MDA, and MDE. Optimized conditions (pH 2.5 phosphate buffer, uncoated capillary, 10 kV) achieve good resolution and chiral selectivity for all analytes. Detection limits are better than 0.2 μg/mL, with high precision (intra-day migration time relative standard deviation < 0.8%) and linearity from 0.156 to 40 μg/mL. After liquid-liquid extraction, urine samples can be analyzed below the 500 ng/mL NIDA cut-off. For hair samples, field-amplified sample stacking enables chiral determination of MDMA, MDA, and MDE at concentrations found in real ecstasy users.
A capillary electrophoresis method using a phosphate buffer with a chiral selector separates the enantiomers of MDMA (Ecstasy) and its metabolites HMMA and MDA in human urine. After enzymatic hydrolysis and solid-phase extraction, detection at 195 nm achieves detection limits of 20–50 ng/mL with 5 mL samples. Analysis of two patients' urine shows enantioselective metabolism: one patient excreted 42.28% of the racemic MDMA dose as R-(−)-MDMA and 10.16% as S-(+)-MDMA; the other excreted 28.63% and 9.34%, respectively. Metabolite enantiomer excretion varied between individuals, demonstrating interindividual differences in MDMA metabolism.
Capillary electrophoresis combined with fluorescence spectroscopy, using sodium dodecyl sulfate as a surfactant, separates and concentrates lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in mouse blood. Two on-line concentration techniques—sweeping micellar electrokinetic chromatography and cation-selective exhaustive injection-sweep-micellar electrokinetic chromatography—were optimized. In a test mouse fed 0.1 mg LSD (about one-tenth the LD50 value for a 20 g mouse), LSD concentrations of 120 ng/mL and 30 ng/mL were detected in blood at 20 and 60 minutes after ingestion, respectively.