Biotransformation and detectability of the designer drug 2,5-dimethoxy-4-propylphenethylamine (2C-P) studied in urine by GC-MS, LC-MS(n), and LC-high-resolution-MS(n)

• Published in: Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry
• Main Authors: C.S.D. Wink, M.R. Meyer, T. Braun, A. Turcant, H.H. Maurer
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Verlag 2015
• Subjects: 2C-P; GC-MS; LC-HR-MS n; Metabolism; Phenethylamine derivatives; Carbonic acid
• Online Access: http://okina.univ-angers.fr/publications/ua11183; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-014-8083-2

2,5-Dimethoxy-4-propylphenethylamine (2C-P) is a hallucinogenic designer drug of the phenethylamine class, the so-called 2Cs, named according to the ethyl spacer between the nitrogen and the aromatic ring. The aims of the present work were to identify the phases I and II metabolites of 2C-P. In addition, the detectability of 2C-P and its metabolites in urine as proof of an intake in clinical or forensic cases was tested. According to the identified metabolites, the following pathways were proposed: N-acetylation; deamination followed by reduction to the corresponding alcohol and oxidation to carbonic acid; mono- and bis-hydroxylation at different positions; mono- and bis-O-demethylation, followed by glucuronidation, sulfation, or both; and combination of these steps. Proof of an intake of a common user's dose of 2C-P was possible by both standard urine screening approaches, the GC-MS as well as the LC-MS(n) approach.