Characterization of Fentanyl and Fentanyl Analogs by Liquid Chromatography Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry

The purpose of this graduate thesis is the characterization of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues using Liquid Chromatography – Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry instrumentation. The rise in fentanyl use has had a large impact on America and fentanyl analogues are appearing more quickly. Research on these drugs takes time and is more difficult to stay current when new analogues are appearing on the streets every day. Detection of these compounds are essential for law enforcement personnel, hospital personnel, and forensic scientists. This thesis focuses on testing 152 fentanyl analogues on the LC-QQQ to see if the instrumentation would be beneficial as primary use in these different fields of work. Current techniques used to confirm the presence of fentanyl derivatives include GC-MS techniques and LC-MS techniques. The results indicate that liquid chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometry instrumentation provided retention times for each fentanyl derivative and proper chromatography was discovered. Therefore, liquid chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometry is a useful technique to identify fentanyl analogues in a laboratory setting.