A quantitative method for simultaneous determination of 5-methoxy-N,N-diisopropyltryptamine and its metabolites in urine using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry.

A method using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was developed and validated to detect the designer hallucinogen 5-MeO-DIPT and two of its metabolites in rat urine. The technique involved protein precipitation with acetonitrile, chromatographic separation on a C18 column with a methanol-water-formic acid gradient, and multiple-reaction monitoring mass spectrometry. The assay showed a linear range of 0.01-10 μg/mL and a lower limit of quantification of 10 ng/mL for all analytes, with acceptable accuracy and precision. The method was successfully applied to urine from rats given the drug.

Study at a glance

Abstract

5-Methoxy-N,N-diisopropyltryptamine (5-MeO-DIPT) is a designer hallucinogen derived from tryptamine and is reportedly abused and involved in criminal activities. For the detection of 5-MeO-DIPT use, a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric method for 5-MeO-DIPT and its metabolites, 5-hydroxy-N,N-diisopropyltryptamine (5-OH-DIPT) and 5-methoxy-N,N-isopropyltryptamine (5-MeO-IPT) was developed and validated in rat urine. The urine samples were pretreated by protein precipitation with acetonitrile and introduced into a BDS HYPERSIL C(18) column (50 × 2.0 mm, 5 μm) for chromatographic separation. Mobile phases consisted of methanol, water, and 1% formic acid, and gradient elution was used at a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min. For the MS detection, multiple-reaction monitoring analysis was adopted. The linear range was 0.01-10 μg/mL, and the lower limit of quantification was 10 ng/mL for all analytes. The intra- and interday accuracies and precisions met the criteria (<15%). The developed method was successfully applied to the drug-treated rat urine.