DETERMINATION OF PSYCHOTROPIC PHENYLALKYLAMINE DERIVATIVES IN BIOLOGICAL MATRICES BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH PHOTODIODE-ARRAY DETECTION

Several procedures using high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode-array detection have been developed to create phytochemical and toxicological profiles of phenylalkylamine derivatives in biological samples (e.g. plant materials and urine). Mescaline-containing cactus samples were extracted with basic methanol, using methoxamine as internal standard; the extraction and clean-up of urine samples were performed on cation-exchange solid-phase extraction columns. The extracts were separated on a 3-mu-m ODS column with acetonitrile-water-phosphoric acid-hexylamine as the mobile phase. Peak detection was performed at 198 or 205 nm; peak identity and homogeneity were ascertained by on-line scanning of the UV spectra from 190 to 300 nm. The detection limit of phenylalkylamine derivatives in urine and cactus material was 0.026-0.056-mu-g/ml and 0.04-mu-g/mg, respectively. Following a single oral dose of 1.7 mg/kg methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA) the concentrations found in urine ranged from 1.48 to 5.05-mu-g/ml MDMA and 0.07-0.90-mu-g/ml methylenedioxyamphetamine (a metabolite of MDMA). The mescaline content of the cactus Trichocereus pachanoi varied between 1.09 and 23.75-mu-g/mg.