An optimised gas chromatographic – mass spectrometric method for the chemical characterisation of benzylpiperazine and 1-arypiperazine based drugs

This study presents a method for the simultaneous detection of piperazines and congenors in street samples of amphetamine type stimulants. The method is based on simple solvent extraction of the drugs from the samples followed by GC-MS analysis. The analytical method separates 19 of the most common drugs found in piperazine samples and achieves for the first time the GC-MS separation of (i) 2-FPP, 3-FPP and 4-FPP and (ii) 2-TFMPP, 3-TFMPP and 4-TFMPP at the same time. This method provides operational laboratories with a more effective method for the chemical characterisation of street samples of piperazines.