A New Method for Enantiomeric Determination of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine and p-Methoxymethamphetamine in Human Urine

Wei-Jay Chen, Ren-Jang Wu, Hsueh-Hui Yang, Ahai-Chang Lua, Yin-Jeh Tzeng, Shun-Hsing Tuan, Liang Chen, Tsong-Yung Chou
2022 Chemosensors  
The abuse of paramethoxymethamphetamine (PMMA) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) among young people is increasingly serious and has become a public health problem. Since enantiomers of MDMA and PMMA are metabolized at different rates in the body and exhibit different neurotoxicity in tissues, we have developed a simple method for simultaneous enantiomeric determination of PMMA and MDMA, using parallel dual capillary immunoaffinity columns coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Linear
more » ... calibration curves were obtained in concentration ranges of 100–1000 ng/mL, with a limit of quantitation of <22 ng/mL. Good interday accuracy and precision were achieved with this method. Besides filtering the urine sample through a 0.45 μm MILLIPORE membrane, no other sample pretreatment was needed, and no toxic organic solvent was used. It is a rapid, environmentally friendly safe method, and could be applied for routine enantiomeric analysis of PMMA and MDMA in the pharmaceutical industry, forensic science, and environmental analysis.
doi:10.3390/chemosensors10020050 fatcat:tx4qu2spcndrherqarrjrioaqu