Simultaneous determination of 4F-MDMB BINACA, a new synthetic cannabinoid, and its metabolites in human blood samples by LC-MS/MS

Abstract

Methyl 2-(1-(4-fluorobutyl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide)-3,3-dimethylbutanoate) also referred to as 4F-MDMB BINACA(M0), is a recently introduced synthetic cannabinoid (SC) that was identified in herbal blends submitted to the Istanbul Narcotics Laboratory of Council of Forensic Medicine (CFM), in March 2019. A sensitive analytical method was developed to be able to detect and quantitate 4F-MDMB BINACA(M0) and its two metabolites, 4F-MDMB BINACA {3,3-dimethylbutanoic acid ((S)-2-(1-(4-fluorobutyl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxamido)-3, 3-dimethylbutanoic acid)} (M1), and 4F-MDMB BINACA-N-4-hyroxybutyl (methyl (S)-2-(1-(4-hydroxybutyl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxamido)-3,3-dimethylbutanoate) (M2) in blood samples by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The samples were prepared using a solid-phase extraction method. The method validation was performed in terms of linearities, limits of detection (LODs), limits of quantification (LOQs), recoveries, matrix effects, process efficiencies, accuracies, and precisions, was also applied to six blood samples from cases of autopsy in the CFM, Istanbul.

Keywords

• Synthetic cannabinoid
• 4F-MDMB BINACA
• forensic toxicology
• drugs of abuse

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