Paper Spray Mass Spectrometry Utilized with a Synthetic Microporous Polyolefin Silica Matrix Substrate in the Rapid Detection and Identification of More than 190 Synthetic Fentanyl Analogs

Fentanyl and its
related synthetic analogs have recently become
more readily available as a growing threat to public safety, such
as pain relief and anesthetics. Sources of fentanyl are more likely
to be illicitly manufactured than pharmaceutically manufactured and
are often laced with other opioids, which ultimately increases the
potency of fentanyl and results in an increased number of overdose
deaths. The methods used to detect these compounds safely and quickly
are of high interest due to their extreme potency. This study investigates
the use of paper spray mass spectrometry (PS-MS), which is a simple
atmospheric ionization process that can be used as a rapid study (60
s) with limited sample preparation and sample handling. PS-MS can
be utilized with a synthetic microporous polyolefin silica matrix
substrate, known as Teslin, which is manufactured by PPG Industries.
The main characteristic of paper spray ionization with the Teslin
substrate is the hydrophobicity, which is useful for a fast and direct
analysis requiring only 1 μg of the sample. The application
of this novel synthetic substrate to PS-MS has been illustrated with
a fentanyl analog screening kit (FAS Kit), which was designed by the
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for the screening of 212 evolving
synthetic opioids, including more than 190 fentanyl analogs. The comparable
fragmentation with precursor molecule mass data from this study can
be useful in improving the accurate detection and structural characterization
of complex samples with a minimum interference of the isobaric components.