A comparison of nicotine content methods to produce a UPC2-MS2 method for the analysis of nicotine and minor alkaloids in SPECTRUM nicotine research cigarettes

Nicotine is the principal alkaloid in tobacco and has been the primary subject of scientific investigation for its pharmacological effects contributing to tobacco use, dependence, withdrawal, and physical harm. Related minor alkaloids, accounting for less than 6% of alkaloid content in tobacco leaves, may also mirror some of the same pharmacological effects. To detect such low concentrations of the minor alkaloids, tobacco product methods produced by the Cooperation Centre for Scientific Research Relative to Tobacco (CORESTA) using gas chromatography and flame ionization detection (GC-FID) have been adapted for use with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Nicotine and minor alkaloid content in SPECTRUM Nicotine Research Cigarettes (NRC) have previously been determined using GC-FID; however, the minor alkaloids were unable to be detected or quantitated. This study employed UltraPerformance Convergence Chromatography (UPC2) system coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (MS2) to determine the nicotine and minor alkaloid content in NRC tobacco products. CORESTA Recommended Methods (CRMs) were adapted for their sample preparative procedures for optimal extraction followed by detection with UPC2-MS2. These results were compared to two separate CRMs that used GC-FID and GC-MS2 as well as an alternative method with GC-MS2 detection. The GC-FID and GC-MS2 CRM preparations along with the alternative GC-MS2 were unable to detect the analytes in every NRC formulation, whereas the UPC2-MS2 extraction and detection method was able to quantify every analyte in every NRC formulation. This increased sensitivity demonstrates the utility of the UPC2-MS2 analytical method in accurately detecting and quantifying nicotine and minor alkaloids in tobacco filler.