A Simple HPLC–UV Approach for Rapid Enantioseparation of Cathinones, Pyrovalerones and Other Novel Psychoactive Substances on a 2.5-µm Cellulose Tris-(3,5-dimethylphenyl-carbamate) Column

Abstract

The misuse of so called novel psychoactive substances is still a challenging problem worldwide. A special attribute of a lot of these compounds is a chiral centre enabling two possible enantiomers probably related to different pharmacological and toxicological properties. The goal of the present study was to present a simple and isocratic HPLC–UV method for enantioseparation of mainly cathinone and pyrovalerone derivatives as well as selected representatives of amphetamines, ketamines, benzofuries, phenidines, phenidates, morpholines and thiophenes. A Waters Acquity UPC2® Trefoil™ CEL1 2.5 µm, 3.0 × 150 mm column served as chiral stationary phase by means of cellulose tris-(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) as chiral selector. Mobile phases consisted either of n-hexane/n-butanol/diethylamine (100:0.3:0.2) or n-hexane/diethylamine (100:0.2). The method was found to be applicable for rapid simultaneous chiral separations of cathinone derivatives, to determine enantiomeric elution orders, to detect positional isomers and to identify real-life samples. Also, a repeatability study was performed successfully. 78 out of 95 compounds were separated in their enantiomers successfully, 51 of them within 6 min. It was shown that all NPS bought from online vendors or seized by police were traded as racemic mixtures.