Abstract
In this paper, we describe our approach to developing a systematic screening procedure for abused drugs that does not require the use of standard compounds. This procedure uses gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) with retention time locking. Fifty-five abused drugs, including amphetamine, piperazine, tryptamine and phenetylamine derivatives, opiates, and benzodiazepines, were selected as target compounds. The method consists of solid-phase extraction with a polar-enhanced FocusTM column followed by acetylation and GC/MS with retention time locking. Based on this method, an “abused drugs database,” which includes the retention time, qualifier ion/target ion percentage, and calibration curve (values of slope and intercept), was constructed using the novel GC/MS software, NAGINATATM. Using this database, we found a significant improvement in the data analysis time, and qualitative and quantitative information about each drug was obtained without using standard compounds. The practical applications for examining urine samples in forensic cases are also presented.
