Determination of dimethoxyphenethylamine derivatives in urine by deuterium labeled internal standards

Deuterated internal standards for five 2C-series phenethylamine derivatives (2C-B, 2C-C, 2C-I, 2C-T-2, and 2C-T-7) were synthesized to improve quantitative analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). These labeled standards were used to detect and measure the corresponding unlabeled compounds in urine samples. The analysis employed selected ion monitoring (SIM) and achieved good results, demonstrating that deuterated standards can increase accuracy and precision in forensic toxicological screening.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The use of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in forensic analysis is increasing. To exploit fully the capabilities of MS, labeled standards, that can be used to improve the performance of the quantitative analysis, and to increase accuracy and precision, are required. A series of deuterated internal standards, corresponding to the 2C-series of phenethylamine derivatives, including 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine-d6 (2C-B), 4-chloro- 2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine-d6 (2C-C), 4-iodo-2,5-dimethoxy-phenethylamine-d6 (2C-I), 4-ethylthio-2,5-dimethoxy-phenethylamine-d6 (2C-T-2) and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-n-propylthiophenethylamine-d6 (2C-T-7), were synthesized. These deuterated compounds were used to analyze for the corresponding unlabeled compounds in urine. The analysis was performed using GC-MS, with the selected ion monitoring (SIM) technique, whereby good results were achieved.