; Rath, S. Development and application of a HPLC method for eight sunscreen agents in suncare products. _Int. J. Cosmet. Sci._**2012**, _34_, 226-233. 16.24. Determination of 19 Psychaotic Substances in Biological Samples by Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry S. Karampela **1**,**2**, **J. Smith 2** and I. Panderi **1**,***  
1. Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Analysis, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece
2. Division of Forensic Science, Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Dover, DE 19901, USA
* Correspondence: irenepanderi@gmail.com  
Over the past decade, the trend towards substance abuse has changed, and many new psychoactive substances have emerged as \"legal high\" alternatives to traditional illicit drugs. This phenomenon was accompanied by increased incidences of people in intensive care units of hospitals after substance use with unknown pharmacological and/or toxicological action. The acute and chronic effects of new psychoactive sub-stances (NPSs) are not always known, and safety data on their toxicity are usually not available. By the end of 2018, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) recorded more than 730 NPSs, 55 of which were detected for the first time on the drug market in Europe [1]. The forensic analysis of phenylethylamine derivatives is important, as they can be involved in drug-related deaths. Fatal intoxication due to the recreational use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamylhetamine (MDEA) has been reported in Italy in 1996. MDMA overdosage can cause hyperthermia, cardiac arrhythmias, and renal failure, leading to death. More recently, 77 deaths where MDMA was detected in the body were reviewed, and of these cases 59 deaths had MDMA present in whole blood. An ever-increasing need exists within the forensic laboratories to develop analytical processes for the qualitative and quantitative determination of a broad spectrum of new psychoactive substances [2]. Phenylethylamine derivatives are among the major classes of psychoactive substances available on the global market and include both amphetamine analogues and synthetic cathinones. In this work, an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-positive ion electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometric method (UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS) has been developed and fully validated for the determination of 19 psychoactive substances, including 9 amphetamine-type stimulants and 10 synthetic cathinone derivatives, in biological samples. The separation was achieved on a Poroshell 120 EC-C18 analytical column with a gradient mobile phase of 0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid in water in 9 min. The dynamic multiple reaction monitoring used in this work allowed for limit of detection (LOD) and lower limit of quantitation (LOQ) values of 0.5 and 2 ng mL\({}^{-1}\), respectively, for all analytes both in premortem and postmortem whole blood samples. A quadratic calibration model was used for the 12 quantitative analytes over the concentration range of 20-2000 ng mL\({}^{-1}\), and the method was shown to be precise and accurate. The method was applied to the analysis of real cases and proved to be a valuable tool in forensic and clinical toxicology. ## References  
* 1 European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. _European Drug Report 2019: Trends and Developments_; Publications Office of the European Union: Luxemburg, 2020. Available online: [[https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/](https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/)]([https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/](https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/)) (accessed on 8 November 2021). * 2 Karampela, S.; Smith, J.; Panderi, I. Determination of 19 Psychaotic Substances in Premortem and Postmortem Whole Blood Samples Using Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry. _Separations_**2021**, \(8\), 78. 16.25.