UCT presenting at Pittcon 2012

Don Shelly, Technical Specialist for UCT, will be speaking at Pittcon 2012 in Orlando, Florida. The topic will be C18 Sorbents and QuEChERS Clean-Up: Are Variations in Pesticide Recoveries Manufacturer Dependent? Don’s presentation will begin at 3:35 PM in room 307A at the session Food Science: Applications. Don will also be the Session Chair. He invites all Pittcon attendees involved in food testing to attend this important session. It will take place Sunday, March 11th at 1:00 PM.

AAFS 2012: Analysis of Synthetic Cannabinoid by LC/MS/MS & GC/MS (Feb 25 1030-1050am)

The world of synthetic cannabinoids, i.e. The Spice drugs, is a complicated one. Not only are these compounds not derived from the cannabis plant but they are more resistant to testing by conventional immunoassay screens. The spice drugs consist of three major sets, those derived from the work of Prof. John Huffman's group (JWH compounds), those derived from the work at the Hebrew University (HU compounds), and the compounds derived from the work of Prof. Makriyanni's group (AM compounds). These materials are typically sprayed onto plant like material (or herbage), and allowed to dry off. The plant material is then bagged for supply. In analyzing the herbal material for spice drugs, the analytical chemist has to remove this plant material to provide an identification and quantification of the amount of drug present.

In this study (in collaboration with a major crime laboratory), material suspected of containing spice drug material was sonicated in methanol, a portion of the plant extract taken and diluted with an aqueous buffer containing an internal standard. This solution was applied to UCT's mixed mode Clean Screen THC (CSTHC206) SPE column. This SPE column is recognized around the world for producing the cleanest cannabinoid extracts. The column was washed, dried and eluted with an organic solvent system. The extracts were analyzed by standard gas chromatography- mass spectrometer (GC-MS) and found to contain AM2201. The SPE extracts were also analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) where the samples were quantified. The recoveries from the SPE extraction were found to be greater than 90 %, they also showed minimal matrix effects which demonstrates the cleanness of the SPE methodology. This procedure should greatly assist controlled substance analysts in the testing of plant/herbage material for the presence of spice type drugs.

AAFS 2012: Hair Analysis of Amphetamine using SPE & LC-MS/MS (Feb 22 730-900pm)

Apart from the standard matrices (blood, urine, and tissues) submitted to analytical toxicologist for drug testing, samples of hair are now becoming more and more popular are a means of determining drug exposure in individuals. Hair, because of its consistent growth rate can be analyzed for drug taking patterns in chronic users. The time window of detection can be viewed in terms of weeks and months, as opposed to hours and days for blood and urine. In this study (in collaboration with a major crime laboratory), hair samples from an individual subject were tested for the presence of several amphetamine type drugs (amphetamine, methamphetamine, methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), and methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)). This process involved digesting the samples with a strong base in the presence of deuterated internal standards, neutralizing, and extracting the digest using Clean Screen DAU (CSDAU206) SPE columns. After extraction, the test samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The recoveries of the individual amphetamine type drugs were found to be greater than 95%, with minimal matrix effects (less than 6%). The limits of detection and quantification for this procedure were 0.05, and 0.1 ng per mg of sample which demonstrates not only the sensitivity of the method but also the cleanliness of the extracts being analyzed. This method employed only 10 mg of sample for analysis which also demonstrates the efficiency of the SPE methodology.

UCT Specialties chemicals, 3 diverse uses

UCT manufactures an extensive line of silanes, fluid and reactive silicones, homogeneous platinum catalysts and inhibitors for a wide variety of applications. This month we will highlight three diverse areas for these materials by citing recent patents and patent applications. In US Patent 7,953,311, Julian Mullany et al describes the use of a silicone gel sealant for fiber optic communications cable enclosure assemblies. Here is an excerpt from the patent; “Because curing is generally involved in the preparation of these gels, they are sometimes referred to as thermosetting gels. The gel may be a silicone gel produced from a mixture of divinyl terminated polydimethylsiloxane, tetrakis (dimethylsiloxy)silane, a platinum divinyltetramethyldisiloxane complex, commercially available from UCT, Inc. of Bristol, Pa., polydimethylsiloxane, and 1,3,5,7-tetravinyltetra-methylcyclotetrasiloxane (reaction inhibitor for providing adequate pot life).” Please note that we also offer PS200, a silane based coating, for optical fibers that provides lubricity and reduces breakage during fabrication and subsequent flexing. Thomas Whitesides et al, US Patent Application 20110284808, describes the use of a polymerizable silane, 3-(N-styrylmethyl-2- aminoethylamino) propyltrimethoxysilane, (S1590) in preparing particles for use in electrophoretic displays. S1590 is used to functionalize the surface of a pigment by forming a covalent bond with the pigment, through the hydrolyzable trimethoxy groups thereby adding a styrenic double bond to its surface. This double bond is then free to undergo free radical polymerization with other materials, like acrylates and methacrylates, to form grafted structures. Silicones are often used to fabricate microfluidic devices. In US Patent Application 20120003755 Stephen Chapin et al describes techniques for high precision scanning of hydrogel microparticles. The microfluidic apparatus is fabricated on a silicon wafer using soft lithography and addition cured polydimethylsiloxanes. Master molds were prepared by spin-coating with a negative photoresist and developed using standard procedures. The wafers were then treated with T2492, (tridecafluoro-1,1,2,2-tetrahydrooctyl)-1-trichlorosilane, to impart a teflon-like surface to the uncoated areas to facilitate further fabrication of the device.

Carbendazim in Orange Juice extraction

Carbendazim in fruit or fruit juice is easily analyzed using a QuEChERS method. With this method, clear extract, excellent recoveries (average recovery of 101% for three spiking levels), and a low LOQ of 5 ng/mL was achieved. This method is applicable for the determination of Carbendazim in real orange juice samples.

EtG Detection in Fingernails using CUQAX12Z

Over the past decade the use of hair specimens for the long-term detection of the alcohol biomarker ethyl glucuronide has been increasing in popularity. In a paper by Dr. Joseph Jones and his team at the United States Drug Testing Laboratory (Des Plaines Il), they evaluated the usefulness of fingernail clippings as a suitable alternative to hair for ethyl glucuronide detection (American Journal of Analytical Chemistry (e-published January 2012)). A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the detection of ethyl glucuronide in fingernail clippings was fully validated and used to analyze the hair and/or fingernail specimens of 606 college-aged study participants. The limit of detection was 2 pg/mg, the limit of quantitation was 8 pg/mg and the method was linear from 8 to 2000 pg/mg, which is a clear demonstration of the efficiency of the SPE method which was performed using UCT’s Clean-up CUQAX12Z SPE columns. This group showed that as alternative matrices go, fingernail clippings can be just as useful as hair samples, and that UCT’s SPE can be employed no matter what the matrix is. Dr. Jones reports that ethyl glucuronide levels in fingernails were higher than ethyl glucuronide levels in hair. The study results demonstrated that fingernail may be a suitable alternative to hair for ethyl glucuronide detection and may be the preferred sample type due to the lack of a gender bias.

Don Shelly to speak on Food and Environmental issues

UCT's Food and Environmental specialist, Don Shelly, will be presenting at the Orange County Water District (OCWD) workshop in Fountain Valley, California on February 8, 2012. Topics will include The Chemistry behind Solid Phase Extraction with an emphasis on current drinking water methods and Enviro-Clean: Products Designed to Save You Time and Reduce Costs. Please contact Don at ext. 219 or Bill Leavitt at ext. 184 for more details.