2011 Volume 7 Issue 1 Pages 8-15
Toxicological analysis with mass chromatography-spectrometry has spread widely and quickly with the progress in ionizing methods.
This review describes new developments in mass chromatography-spectrometry research for forensic toxicology. Time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) coupled with liquid chromatography (LC) has been developed for screening and for determining benzodiazepines with an exact mass database. All benzodiazepines have similar chemical structures and molecular weights, and, thus, show similar mass spectra and protonated molecule ions. Discrimination of mass spectrometry at low resolving power with LC-MS is usually difficult.
Benzodiazepines are widely used in medical practice in Japan, and data acquired from LC/TOF-MS measurements of 130 drugs, including benzodiazepines, were used to create an exact mass database. This database comprises molecular formulae, calculated exact masses, retention times and calibrations. In the analysis of samples from patients who had taken many drugs, selectivity was improved when the LC/TOF-MS exact mass database was used.
Comprehensive screening with LC/quadrupole TOF is the most effective method in forensic toxicology for analyzing the samples from cases of multidrug overdose. New developmental mass chromatography-spectrometry equipment is required because of the more precise and exact analyses in forensic toxicology.
