Determination of cannabinoids by capillary liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection

A review of bioanalytical techniques for evaluation of cannabis (Marijuana, weed, Hashish) in human hair

Cannabis products (marijuana, weed, hashish) are among the most widely abused psychoactive drugs in the world, due to their euphorigenic and anxiolytic properties. Recently, hair analysis is of great interest in analytical, clinical, and forensic sciences due to its non-invasiveness, negligible risk of infection and tampering, facile storage, and a wider window of detection. Hair analysis is now widely accepted as evidence in courts around the world. Hair analysis is very feasible to complement saliva, blood tests, and urinalysis. In this review, we have focused on state of the art in hair analysis of cannabis with particular attention to hair sample preparation for cannabis analysis involving pulverization, extraction and screening techniques followed by confirmatory tests (e.g., GC–MS and LC–MS/MS). We have reviewed the literature for the past 10 years’ period with special emphasis on cannabis quantification using mass spectrometry. The pros and cons of all the published methods have also been discussed along with the prospective future of cannabis analysis.

Absorptive stripping voltammetry for cannabis detection

BACKGROUND

Given that Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol, the active constituent of cannabis, has been shown to greatly reduce driving ability, thus being linked to many drug driving accidents, its reliable detection is of great importance.

RESULTS

An optimised carbon paste electrode, fabricated from graphite powder and mineral oil, is utilised for the sensitive detection of Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in both aqueous solutions of pH 10.0 and in synthetic saliva solutions. "Absorptive Stripping Voltammetry" is exploited to that effect and the paste is used to pre-concentrate the carbon paste electrode with the target molecule. Practical limits of detection of 0.50 μM and 0.10 μM are determined for THC in stationary and stirred aqueous borate buffer solutions, respectively. Theoretical limits of detection are also calculated; values of 0.48 nM and 0.41 nM are determined for stationary and stirred THC aqueous borate buffer solutions, respectively. THC concentrations as low as 0.50 μM are detected in synthetic saliva solutions. The sensitivity of the sensor was 0.12 μA μM(-1), 0.84 μA μM(-1) and 0.067 μA μM(-1) for the stationary buffer, the stirred buffer and the saliva matrix, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

"Absorptive Stripping Voltammetry" can be reliably applied to the detection of Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol, after suitable optimisation of the assay. Usefully low practical limits of detection can be achieved.

Indirect detection of substituted phenols and cannabis based on the electrochemical adaptation of the Gibbs reaction

The voltammetric behaviour of 2,6-dichloro-p-aminophenol (PAP) in aqueous solution at an edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrode was explored and its sensitivity to additions of substituted phenols examined. Proof of concept is shown for the electrochemical adaptation of the Gibbs reaction, where reaction of the oxidised form of PAP with substituted phenols provides an indirect methodology for the analytical detection of these compounds. This indirect protocol provides an attractive alterative to the direct electrochemical oxidation of phenolic compounds, since the latter is plagued by electrode passivation, leading to low sensitivity. It is observed that phenol, 4-phenoxyphenol, methylphenol (para and meta), nitrophenol and most importantly, tetrahydrocannabinol, can be detected voltammetrically. Such a protocol is particularly attractive for roadside testing for cannabis in drug drivers.

Determination of cannabinoids in hair using high-pH* non-aqueous electrolytes and electrochemical detection. Some aspects of sensitivity and selectivity

Non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis with electrochemical detection (NACE-ED) was applied to the determination of cannabinoids in hair. The effect of different electrolyte compositions on the selectivity of the separation of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabinol (CBN), cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid (THCA) was studied. Complete electrophoretic resolution was obtained using a strongly basic background electrolyte consisting of 5 mM sodium hydroxide dissolved in acetonitrile-methanol (1:1). Electrochemical detection yielded well defined signals in the oxidation mode. In order to obtain low limits of detection experimental parameters, which determine the sensitivity and the noise level, were optimized. A crucial parameter for sensitive measurements using a wall-tube flow cell as end-column detector is the distance between the capillary outlet and the working electrode. The highest signal-to-noise ratio using a 50 microm I.D. capillary was obtained at a distance of 25 microm. When the capillary outlet was moved away from the working electrode, thus reducing the strength of the separation field present at the working electrode, a large low frequency noise developed. This rise was attributed to disturbances of the hydrodynamic pattern in the flow cell. Analytical aspects such as sensitivity, reproducibility and selectivity were addressed in this work. The precision of NACE-ED regarding migration time and peak height for a sample containing 1 microg/ml THC was 0.4% and 1.1% (RSD), respectively (n=5). The calibration curve was linear for concentrations ranging between 0.1 and 10 microg/ml (r=0.998). The limit of detection for THC was 37 ng/ml, which is almost two orders of magnitude lower when compared with on-column UV detection. The method was evaluated using hair samples containing cannabinoids as sample material.