Identification of the impurities in 2,5-dimethoxy-4-ethylphenethylamine tablets by high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry-ion trap-time of flight

Analytical Methods Pub Date: 2016-11-11 DOI: 10.1039/C6AY02162J

Abstract

This paper illustrated the identification of relevant impurities in illegal drug 2,5-dimethoxy-4-ethylphenethylamine (2C-E) which can help to regulate this illegal drug and identify the source of their manufacture. Hybrid ion trap/time-of-flight mass spectrometry coupled with high performance liquid chromatography (LC/MS-IT-TOF) is used as an efficient and effective method for qualitative analysis. In this study, the fragment pathway of 2C-E was deduced after the LC-MSn determination of the 2C-E standard by LC/MS-IT-TOF. Ten impurities were detected in the 2C-E tablets using an optimized LC/MS-IT-TOF method. According to the exact mass data of MSn and the analysis of the element composition, the structures of ten impurities were identified. The synthetic route of the 2C-E tablets was proposed by analysis of these impurities. The established method is not only effective in identifying impurities, but also helps to identify the manufacturing source of this illegal drug.

Graphical abstract: Identification of the impurities in 2,5-dimethoxy-4-ethylphenethylamine tablets by high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry-ion trap-time of flight
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