Structural confirmation of synthetic cannabinoids in seized electronic cigarette oil: a combined mass spectrometric and computational study.

Introduction:
This article presents a study on the identification and structural elucidation of five synthetic cannabinoids found in seized electronic cigarette oil using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-quadrupole Orbitrap mass spectrometry (LC-q-Orbitrap/MS). The study also explores the fragmentation patterns and derivatization rules of synthetic cannabinoids, as well as the advantages of using LC/MS and GC/MS in their structural elucidation.

Key Points:

* The study identified five synthetic cannabinoids in seized electronic cigarette oil using GC-MS and LC-q-Orbitrap/MS.
* The researchers proposed the structures of the synthetic cannabinoids based on the mass spectrometric data, which were confirmed by comparing them with reference substances.
* The study explored the fragmentation patterns and derivatization rules of synthetic cannabinoids.
* The researchers found that selective cleavage of synthetic cannabinoids was mainly controlled by spin population in EI-MS but a tunneling effect arose from proton transfer in ESI-MS detection.
* EI-MS was found to be suitable for identifying synthetic cannabinoids with aromatic ketone structure, while synthetic cannabinoids with carbamoyl-linked group were better characterized by high-resolution ESI-MS compared to EI-MS.
* The study demonstrated a method with promising potential for rapid and reliable screening of synthetic cannabinoids in mixtures with enhanced detection throughput and operation simplicity.

Main Message:
The study highlights the importance of using advanced analytical techniques like GC-MS and LC-q-Orbitrap/MS in identifying and structurally elucidating synthetic cannabinoids. The findings of this study can be useful for public security, criminal investigation, and relevant testing departments for monitoring, screening, and confirming potential new drugs. The study also emphasizes the need to understand the fragmentation patterns and derivatization rules of synthetic cannabinoids to facilitate their identification and detection in complex mixtures. Overall, the study provides valuable insights into the analysis and detection of synthetic cannabinoids, which can have significant implications for regulatory and law enforcement agencies.

Xu Y, Xu J, Chen X, Fan YL, Wu h. Structural confirmation of synthetic cannabinoids in seized electronic cigarette oil: a combined mass spectrometric and computational study. Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM. 2023;37(8):1. doi:10.1002/rcm.9485