Analysis of Psychoactive Cathinones and Tryptamines by Electrospray Ionization Atmospheric Pressure Ion Mobility Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

The ability to use positive ion monitoring mode with an atmospheric pressure ion mobility time-of-flight mass spectrometer (APIM(tof)MS) to detect psychoactive cathinones and tryptamines from aqueous phase samples was evaluated. The study used a traditional electrospray ionization (ESI) source for sample introduction and ionization. A total of four cathinones (mephedrone, butylone, 4-Me-PPP, and 4-MEC) and five tryptamines (5-EtO-DPT, 5-EtO-DALT, 5-EtO-MIPT, 5-EtO-ALCHT, and 5-EtO-2MALET) were investigated, and we report on parent ions, collision induced dissociation (CID) fragment ions, reduced mobility (Ko), mass flight times, and detection limits obtained from a single instrument run for the psychoactive substances. Detection limits reported ranged from 3 to 11 μM concentration for the compounds studied. This detection limit range corresponded to 1-5 ng of material needed for improved detection on the instrument. This article demonstrates that it was possible to use a single instrument platform for the separation, detection, and identification of cathinones and tryptamines in less than 1 min. The application holds great promise for detecting and identifying a new class of drugs often referred to as "bath salts" or "legal highs" distributed over the Internet.