Determination of new psychoactive substances (nsp) in biological fluids through microextraction and ultra performance liquid chromatography

Identifier:  TFG:2548

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TFG2548

Authors:  Domingo Griñó, Elisabet

Abstract:
In the recent years there has been an increase in the commercialization and consumption of the new designer drugs. They are not regulated by the United National Psychotropic Drugs Convention. In the new designer drugs, synthetic cathinones have become important. This can be more potent and toxic than existing drugs. In addition, they have become the first cause of many deaths from overdose. The determination of synthetic cathinones is not a simple task because the base structure of cathinone can be suffering many alterations. Therefore, new analytical methods are required for the extraction of these compounds in the biological samples and their detection. In this project, a new analytical method has been validated and optimized for the determination of 4 different cathinones (3-Fluoromethcathinone, 4-Methylethcathinone, Pentylone and α-Pyrrolidinovalerophenone) in oral fluid, using a DLLME as a extraction technique, followed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a diode array detector (UPLC-PDA). The oral fluid was chosen as the biological sample and no other matrices because it is a no invasive sample, easy to obtain, stock up and transport. In addition, most analytes are stable.