Metabolism and toxicological detection of the designer drug 4-chloro-2,5-dimethoxyamphetamine in rat urine using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Studies are described on the metabolism and the toxicological analysis of the amphetamine-derived designer drug 4-chloro-2,5-dimethoxyamphetamine (DOC) in rat urine using gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric techniques. The metabolites identified indicated that DOC was metabolized by O-demethylation at position 2 or 5 of the phenyl ring partly followed by glucuronidation and/or sulfation. The authors’ systematic toxicological analysis procedure using full-scan gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after acid hydrolysis, liquid-liquid extraction and microwave-assisted acetylation allowed the detection of an intake of a dose of DOC in rat urine that corresponds to a common drug user’s dose. Assuming similar metabolism, the STA procedure described should be suitable as proof of an intake of DOC in human urine.