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Brandt SD, Martins CP, Freeman S, Dempster N, Wainwright M, Riby PG, Alder JF.
“N,N-Dimethyltryptamine and dichloromethane: rearrangement of quaternary ammonium salt product during GC-EI and CI-MS-MS analysis”.
J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2008 May 11;47(1):207-12.
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Abstract
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine DMT 1 is a simple tryptamine derivative with powerful psychoactive properties. It is abundant in nature and easily accessible through a variety of synthetic routes. Most work-up procedures require the use of organic solvents and halogenated representatives are often employed. DMT was found to be reactive towards dichloromethane, either during work-up or long term storage therein, which led to the formation of the quaternary ammonium salt N-chloromethyl-DMT chloride 2. Analysis of this side-product by gas chromatography ion trap mass spectrometry GC-MS, both in electron and chemical ionisation tandem MS modes, gave only degradation products. For example, 2 could not be detected but appeared to have rearranged to 3-2-chloroethylindole 3 and 2-methyltetrahydro-beta-carboline 4, whereas HPLC analysis enabled the detection of 2. GC-MS is a standard tool for the fingerprinting of drug products. The identification of a particular synthetic route is based on the analysis of impurities, provided these side products can be established to be route-specific. The in situ detection of both 3 and 4 within a DMT sample may have led to erroneous conclusions with regards to the identification of the synthetic route.
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