Abstract
The number of hallucinogenic compounds that have been separated simultaneously by liquid chromatography is limited. This research aimed to identify a column(s) that can allow for separation of several hallucinogens. The extent of separation of seven polar hallucinogenic tryptamine and phenethylamine derived alkaloids containing a basic N atom that becomes protonated at low pH values were investigated on five reverse-based columns and one hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) column. AnRP-phenyl and a negatively charged fused core HILIC were identified and recommended as effective columns in this regard. This research is the first to introduce a HILIC column in separation of hallucinogenic alkaloids and to simultaneously study the separation of the two principal psychoactive agents, muscimol and psilocin. The results of this study showed that better separation in HILIC columns can be achieved if an aprotic diluent of relatively lower polarity is used to introduce analytes into a mobile phase of higher polarity. Tetrahydrofuran was recommended where acetonitrile is used as the organic component of the mobile phase.
Highlights
Hallucinogens are pharmacologically psychoactive agents that have mind-altering effects and result in non-ordinary psychological experiences.[1]
The absence of publications on muscimol and psilocin, and the limited number of articles on simultaneous study of hallucinogens, might be an indication that the reverse phase alkyl columns are not the best in separating polar basic compounds as represented by the hallucinogenic alkaloids, a situation concurred by other researchers.[23,34,35]
For the analysis of hallucinogens and any other set of polar compounds that contain a basic alkyl-N and aromatic substituents, the phenyl and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC)-based columns can be considered in order to maximize the number of analytes for simultaneous quantification
Summary
Hallucinogens are pharmacologically psychoactive agents that have mind-altering effects and result in non-ordinary psychological experiences.[1]. Even though research in hallucinomics is limited, some articles have reported chromatographic quantitation methods with all liquid chromatography using reverse phase columns.[4,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32] Our research observed that there has never been an attempt to simultaneously quantify muscimol and psilocin despite being identified as the psycho-excitatory agents responsible for the hallucinogenic effects of mushrooms. The absence of publications on muscimol and psilocin, and the limited number of articles on simultaneous study of hallucinogens, might be an indication that the reverse phase alkyl columns are not the best in separating polar basic compounds as represented by the hallucinogenic alkaloids, a situation concurred by other researchers.[23,34,35]
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