SOFT 2004 Meeting Abstracts - Society of Forensic Toxicologists

P42
ENANTIOMERIC ANALYSIS OF EPHEDRINES AND NOREPHEDRINES
2
Sheng-Meng Wang l • 2 , Russell J. Lewis' 2 , Dennis Canfield 2 , and Ray H. LiU .J. 4 , 'Central Police University,
Taoyuan, Taiwan. 2Toxicology and Accident Research Laboratory, FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute,
Oklahoma City, OK, U.S.A. JDepartment of medical technology, Fooyin University, Kaohsiung Hsieh,
Taiwan. 4Department ofJustice Sciences, University ofAlabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, U.S.A.
Concerned with variations in abuse potential and control status among various isomers of ephedrines and
norephedrines, this study was conducted to develop an effective method for the simultaneous analysis of
nine structurally related ephedrine-type compounds. Select cold medications were then analyzed to
characterize the enantiomeric compositions of ephedrine, norephedrine (phenylpropanolamine or PPA),
pseudoephedrine, norpseudoephedrine (cathine), and cathinone.
Among various approaches investigated, a 60-m HP-5MS (0.25 mm!D, 0.25 !!m film thickness) was found
to successfully resolve the following compounds of interest that were derivatized with (-)-a-methoxy-a.­
trifloromethy lpheny lacetic acid (MTPA): (+ )-cathine, (+ )-cathinone, (-)-cathinone, (+)-ephedrine, (-)­
ephedrine, (+)-PPA, (-)-PPA, (+)-pseudoephedrine, (-}-pseudoephedrine. A (-}-cathine standard was not
available, but should also be resolvable using this analytical procedure. The injector temperature was set at
250°C and the oven profile was 160-220°C at 5°C/min, hold 1 min, 220-250°C at 25°C/min. This method
was applied to the analysis of various over-the-counter cold medications and the results derived from three
samples are shown in Table 1. These compounds were isolated from the cold medications utilizing a
simple liquid/liquid extraction with ethyl acetate. This method has proven to be an efficient procedure for
the separation and identification ofvarious enantiomeric ephedrine and norephedrine-type compounds.
Table 1. Enantiomeric composition (JlglmL) of various ephedrines and norephedrines found in various cold
remedies
(+)-Cathinone
PPA thinone PPA Cathine (+)-Ephedrine
(+)­ H-Ca­
(-)­ (+)-
SamJ;!le
H-Ephedrine
(-)-PseudoeJ;!hedrine
(+)-PseudoeJ;!hedrine
2 1.84 0.565
16 0.549 0.414 48.1
19 1.35 1.19 26.8 2130 340
References
1. Liu J-T, Liu RH: Enantiomeric Composition of Abused Amine Drugs--Chromatographic Methods of
Analysis and Data Interpretation Matrices; J Biochem Biophys Methods 54:115-146; 2002.
2. Iwanicki RM, Maier K, Zlotnick JA, Liu RH, Kuo T-L, Tagliaro F: Separation of Enantiomeric
Ephedrine and Pseudoephedrine-High Pressure Liquid Chromatography and Capillary Electrophoresis;
J Forensic Sci 44:470--474; 1999.
Key Words: Ephedrine, Norephedrine, Enantiomer
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