MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), commonly referred to as ecstasy, and methamphetamine are central nervous system stimulants, which can produce euphoria, enhanced mental and emotional clarity, sensations of lightness and floating, and other hallucinations. (Chandra et al. 2015)
Due to their effects, MDMA and methamphetamine are used in Drug-Facilitated Crimes (DFC), intended to impair behaviour, perceptions, or decision-making capacity to take advantage of an impaired person without their consent. In fact, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) proved that young women under the influence of MDMA were more likely to have sex with men they had not intended to, as amphetamines increase sexual desire and lower inhibitions. (Freese …show more content…
Solid-phase extraction is used to separate analytes from the sample matrix, as the analytes’ chemical and physical properties differ.
Particularly cation exchange cartridges are widely used to determine methamphetamine and its metabolites. Since amphetamines are weak bases, their ionic form may bind to the sorbent. However, the mixture of organic solvent and alkaline solution, which is utilised for elution, must be removed before liquid chromatographic analysis. (Lee et al. 1997;
Wood et al. 2005; de Castro et al. 2013) Moreover, the eluted solution may contain many compounds that interfere with the analysis.
Therefore, cation exchange cartridges are replaced by mixed-mode anion exchange solid phase extraction to produce eluates with fewer hair impurities. (Freese et al. 2002) They are designed to be stable from pH 0 to 14, which allows to directly load the dissolved hair sample without other preparation steps.
The cartridge’s sorbent has two binding sites; one is positively charged to interact with negative components and the other includes an aromatic ring that may bind, using reverse-phase
Due to their effects, MDMA and methamphetamine are used in Drug-Facilitated Crimes (DFC), intended to impair behaviour, perceptions, or decision-making capacity to take advantage of an impaired person without their consent. In fact, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) proved that young women under the influence of MDMA were more likely to have sex with men they had not intended to, as amphetamines increase sexual desire and lower inhibitions. (Freese …show more content…
Solid-phase extraction is used to separate analytes from the sample matrix, as the analytes’ chemical and physical properties differ.
Particularly cation exchange cartridges are widely used to determine methamphetamine and its metabolites. Since amphetamines are weak bases, their ionic form may bind to the sorbent. However, the mixture of organic solvent and alkaline solution, which is utilised for elution, must be removed before liquid chromatographic analysis. (Lee et al. 1997;
Wood et al. 2005; de Castro et al. 2013) Moreover, the eluted solution may contain many compounds that interfere with the analysis.
Therefore, cation exchange cartridges are replaced by mixed-mode anion exchange solid phase extraction to produce eluates with fewer hair impurities. (Freese et al. 2002) They are designed to be stable from pH 0 to 14, which allows to directly load the dissolved hair sample without other preparation steps.
The cartridge’s sorbent has two binding sites; one is positively charged to interact with negative components and the other includes an aromatic ring that may bind, using reverse-phase