This application note describes a complete method for the solid phase extraction and UPLC-MS/MS analysis of pain management drugs and drugs of abuse for forensic toxicology.

A number of advantages are highlighted.

• Sample preparation is optimized to efficiently extract all analytes with a simplified procedure that reduces the number of manual steps. The water wettable nature of the sorbent enables in-well sample pretreatment and direct loading without conditioning and equilibration, eliminating sample transfer and potential transcription errors. The efficient and reproducible extraction is evident in the high recoveries, consistent matrix effects, and accurate and precise quantitative data.
• The use of the ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 Column results in rapid analysis of a large panel while maintaining all required baseline separations for accurate quantification.
• The Waters® Xevo TQ-S micro, with features such as StepWave™ Technology and XDR Detector ensures extremely rapid and accurate quantification of all compounds over wide dynamic ranges. This enables the simultaneous quantification of 6-MAM at 2 ng/mL and methamphetamine at 2500 ng/mL.

This combination of sample preparation, UPLC separation, and MS/MS detection optimizes the workflow and results in a rapid, accurate, and precise method.