@article{ref1,
title="Rapid detection of <i>tert</i>-butoxycarbonyl-methamphetamine by direct analysis in real time time-of-flight mass spectrometry",
journal="Forensic toxicology",
year="2018",
author="Sugie, Ken-Ichi and Kurakami, Daisuke and Akutsu, Mamoru and Saito, Koichi",
volume="36",
number="2",
pages="261-269",
abstract="PURPOSE: Phenethylamines constitute the majority of drug-related arrests in Japan. Recently, the smuggling of <i>tert</i>-butoxycarbonyl (<i>t</i>-Boc)-protected phenethylamines has become of increasing concern, because of the difficult identification of these masked substances. <br><br>METHODS: In this study, a rapid and accurate method for the detection of <i>t</i>-Boc-methamphetamine (<i>t</i>-Boc-MP) by direct analysis in real time-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (DART-TOF-MS) was developed. The efficiency of the method was evaluated by comparison with conventional gas chromatography-MS (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-TOF-MS (LC-TOF-MS) techniques. <br><br>RESULTS: During GC-MS analysis of <i>t</i>-Boc-MP, MP was generated in the injection port, which can lead to an analytical error. In the LC-TOF-MS spectrum, fragment ions were detected, which were generated by McLafferty rearrangement in the ion source. On the other hand, in the DART-TOF-MS analysis of <i>t</i>-Boc-MP, pyrolysis could be suppressed by using a micro-syringe injection method, and the fragment ions generated by McLafferty rearrangement were still observed. Moreover, protonated <i>t</i>-Boc-MP could be detected. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Hence, DART-TOF-MS provides a rapid and accurate method for the detection of <i>t</i>-Boc-MP, allowing suppression of the pyrolysis reaction and identification of both fragment ions and protonated <i>t</i>-Boc-MP. To our knowledge, this is the first report for detecting <i>t</i>-Boc-MP by MS techniques.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1860-8965",
doi="10.1007/s11419-017-0400-y",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11419-017-0400-y"
}