A novel method for the determination of synthetic cathinones and related substances in postmortem blood samples using cork-based dispersive solid-phase microextraction prior to LC-MS/MS analysis.
Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry May 14, 2025 Letícia Birk, Bruno Pereira Dos Santos, Sarah Eller et al. 3 citations
A new method using cork powder as a biosorbent in solid-phase microextraction combined with LC-MS/MS was developed to detect synthetic cathinones and related substances in postmortem blood. The method requires only 200 µL of sample and 30 mg of cork, with a 7.5-minute run time. Validation following ASB/ANSI Standard 036 showed lower limits of quantification between 0.5 and 1 ng/mL and linear ranges up to 85 ng/mL. Accuracy and precision were satisfactory, though significant ion suppression (2.9-63.4%) was observed. Testing on three forensic postmortem blood samples confirmed MDMA (79.2-198.1 ng/mL) and MDA (23.1-26.6 ng/mL). The method scored 0.53 on the AGREEprep greenness scale, offering a reliable and more environmentally friendly alternative for forensic toxicology.