Rapid screening and determination of designer drugs in saliva by a nib-assisted paper spray-mass spectrometry and separation technique

A method for the rapid screening and determination of amphetamine-type designer drugs in saliva by a novel nib-assisted paper spray-mass spectrometry procedure is described. Under optimized conditions, the limit of detections for amphetamine derivatives (model samples: o-, m-, p-chloroamphetamine and o-, m-, p-fluoroamphetamine, respectively) were determined to 0.1 μg/mL by the nib-assisted paper spray-mass spectrometry method. This method is easier and has a higher sensitivity than similar methodologies, including atmospheric pressure/matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry and electrospray-assisted laser desorption ionization/mass spectrometry. Data obtained using more classical separation methods, including liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis, are also reported.