In recent years, drug-abuse problem is growing by leaps and bounds all over the world. The master minds spearheading its proliferation among the youth are difficult to identify, so drug-abuse case has become a hard nut to crack even with the help of best international experts in forensic science and criminology. Because most nations have tightened their controls on traditional drugs, the younger generation is now hooked onto new-type drugs: 1-(3- trifluoromethylphenyl) piperazine (TFMPP), 1-(3-chlorophenyl) piperazine (mCPP) and other new piperazine-drugs, acting as hallucinogens like ‘ecstasy’, are being consumed by vulnerable masses all over the world. However, only few research studies have focused on developing highly effective detection methods for TFMPP and mCPP in biological fluids; the number of detection methods for these new-type drugs is almost nil in China. Therefore, it is difficult to detect and prevent drug abuse cases related to piperazine drugs in China. There is an urgent need to develop some simple, fast, and reliable methods for detecting piperazine-drugs in vulnerable masses. Thus, the development of novel detection methods with high sensitivity and selectivity is a difficult task for the officials working in the department of forensic science in China. In this work, a new method was developed for the detection of piperazine derivatives: it was performed under the various specific conditions required for conducting chromatography and mass spectrometry analysis. With this novel method, TFMPP and mCPP was successfully detected with high accuracy in various biological samples. By comparing the purification effect of different solid-phase extraction columns for TFMPP and mCPP in biological fluids (urine and blood), we confirmed the validity of the novel method. In addition, this method has good linear relationship and a low detection line when GC/MS was performed for detecting TFMPP, mCPP in the biological fluids (urine and blood). It is a simple, reproducible method that is highly specific in the detection of piperazine-drugs. Thus, it is indeed a reliable method in forensic science.
Flunitrazepam (FNZ) is a potent hypnotic, sedative, and amnestic drug used to treat severe insomnia. In our recent study, FNZ metabolic profiles were investigated carefully. Six authentic human urine samples were purified using solid phase extraction (SPE) without enzymatic hydrolysis, and urine extracts were then analyzed by liquid chromatography-Q exactive-HF hybrid quadrupole-Orbitrap-mass spectrometry (LC-QE-HF-MS), using the full scan positive ion mode and targeted MS/MS (ddms2) technique to make accurate mass measurements. There were 25 metabolites, including 13 phase I and 12 phase II metabolites, which were detected and tentatively identified by LC-QE-HF-MS. In addition, nine previously unreported phase II glucuronide conjugates and four phase I metabolites are reported here for the first time. Eight metabolic pathways, including N-reduction and O-reduction, Nglucuronidation, O-glucuronidation, mono-hydroxylation and di-hydroxylation, demethylation, acetylation, and combinations, were implicated in this work, and 2-O-reduction together with dihydroxylation were two novel metabolic pathways for FNZ that were identified tentatively. Although 7-amino FNZ is widely considered to be the primary metabolite, a previously unreported metabolites (M12) can also serve as a potential biomarker for FNZ misuse. KEYWORDS chemical structural identification, flunitrazepam, human urine, liquid chromatography-Q exactive-HF hybrid quadrupole-Orbitrap-mass spectrometer, metabolic profiles
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