Simultaneous determination of 4F-MDMB BINACA, a new synthetic cannabinoid, and its metabolites in human blood samples by LC-MS/MS

Abstract

Methyl 2-(1-(4-fluorobutyl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide)-3,3-dimethylbutanoate), also referredto as 4F-MDMB BINACA (M0), is a recently introduced synthetic cannabinoid (SC) that was identified inherbal blends submitted to the Istanbul Narcotics Laboratory of Council of Forensic Medicine (CFM), inMarch 2019. A sensitive analytical method was developed to be able to detect and quantify 4F-MDMBBINACA (M0) and its two metabolites, 4F-MDMB BINACA {3,3-dimethylbutanoic acid ((S)-2-(1-(4-fluorobutyl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxamido)-3, 3-dimethylbutanoic acid)} (M1), and 4F-MDMB BINACA-N-4-hyroxybutyl (methyl (S)-2-(1-(4-hydroxybutyl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxamido)-3,3-dimethylbutanoate)(M2) in blood samples by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The sampleswere prepared using a solid-phase extraction method. The method validation was performed in terms oflinearities, limits of detection (LODs), limits of quantification (LOQs), recoveries, matrix effects, processefficiencies, accuracies, and precisions, was also applied to six blood samples from cases of autopsy in theCFM, Istanbul.