Rapid analysis of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine: A comparison of nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis/fluorescence detection with GC/MS

Because of the increasing use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (3,4-MDMA), a rapid and sensitive analytical technique is required for its detection and determination. Using nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis/fluorescence spectroscopy (NACE/FS) detection, it is possible to determine this drug at the level 0.5ppm without any pre-treatment in less than 5min. After liquid-liquid extraction, the sample can be condensed and a detection limit of 3,4-MDMA in urine of 50ppb (S/N=3) can be achieved. The precision of the method was evaluated by measuring the repeatability and intermediate precision of migration time and the corrected peak height by comparison with a 3,4-MDMA-D₅ internal standard. With the conventional GC/MS method, it is necessary to derivatize the 3,4-MDMA before injection and the GC migration time also is in excess of 20min. Therefore, NACE/FS represents a good complementary method to GC/MS for use in forensic analysis.