Determination of four thiophenethylamine designer drugs (2C-T-4, 2C-T-8, 2C-T-13, 2C-T-17) in human urine by capillary electrophoresis/mass spectrometry

An analytical procedure for the simultaneous determination in human urine of four thiophenethylamine designer drugs (2C-T series) is reported. The quantitative analysis was performed by capillary electrophoresis with mass spectrometric detection (CE/MS), using 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylthiophenethylamine- D4 (2C-T-D4) as internal standard. In order to minimize interferences with matrix components and to preconcentrate target analytes, solid-phase extraction (SPE) was introduced in the method as a clean-up step. The method was validated according to international guidelines. The data for accuracy and precision were within required limits. Calibration curves were generated over the range from 10 to 500 ngmL 1 and correlation coefficients always exceeded 0.997. The method was demonstrated to be specific, sensitive, and reliable for the analysis of these derivatives in urine samples.