Thermal (in)stability of atropine and scopolamine in the GC-MS inlet

Koželj, Gordana (avtor), Prosen, Helena (avtor)

The intoxication due to unintentional or intentional ingestion of plant material containing tropane alkaloids is quite frequent. GC-MS method is still widely used for the identification of these toxicologically important substances in human specimen. During general unknown analysis, high temperature of inlet, at least 270 °C, is commonly used for less volatile substances. Unfortunately, both tropanes are thermally unstable and could be overlooked due to their degradation. The temperaturerelated degradation of tropanes atropine and scopolamine was systematically studied in the inlet of a GC-MS instrument in the range 110–250 °C by increments of 20 °C, additionally also at 275 °C, and in different solvents. At inlet temperatures not higher than 250 °C, the degradation products were formed by elimination of water and cleavage of atropine’s ester bond. At higher temperatures, elimination of formaldehyde became predominant. These phenomena were less pronounced when ethyl acetate was used instead of methanol, while n-hexane proved unsuitable for several reasons. At an inlet temperature of 275 °C, tropanes were barely detectable. During systematic toxicological analysis, any tropanes’ degradation products should indicate the possible presence of atropine and/or scopolamine in the sample. It is not necessary to prepare thermally stable derivatives for confirmation. Instead, the inlet temperature can be decreased to 250 °C, which diminishes their degradation to a level where their detection and identification are possible. This was demonstrated in several case studies.

• Jezik: Angleški jezik
• Ključne besede: atropine, scopolamine, thermal stability, GC-MS inlet, degradation
• Vrsta gradiva: Članek v reviji
• Tipologija: 1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
• Organizacija: MF - Medicinska fakulteta ; FKKT - Fakulteta za kemijo in kemijsko tehnologijo
• Status publikacije: Objavljeno
• Različica publikacije: Objavljena publikacija
• Leto izida: 2021
• Št. strani: 11 str.
• Številčenje: Vol. 9, iss. 7, art. 156
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-135733
• UDK: 543.544.3:543.51:547.9
• ISSN pri članku: 2305-6304
• DOI: 10.3390/toxics9070156
• COBISS.SI-ID: 69304323
• Datum objave v RUL: 30.03.2022

Gradivo je del revije

• Naslov: Toxics
• Skrajšan naslov: Toxics
• Založnik: MDPI
• ISSN: 2305-6304
• COBISS.SI-ID: 520262681

Licence

• Licenca: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Priznanje avtorstva 4.0 Mednarodna
• Povezava: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.sl
• Opis: To je standardna licenca Creative Commons, ki daje uporabnikom največ možnosti za nadaljnjo uporabo dela, pri čemer morajo navesti avtorja.
• Začetek licenciranja: 01.07.2021

Sekundarni jezik

• Jezik: Slovenski jezik
• Ključne besede: atropin, skopolamin, toplotna stabilnost, injektor GC-MS, razgradnja

Projekti

• Financer: ARRS - Agencija za raziskovalno dejavnost Republike Slovenije
• Številka projekta: P1-0153
• Naslov: Raziskave in razvoj analiznih metod in postopkov