GC-PCI-MS/MS and LC-ESI-MS/MS databases for the detection of 104 psychotropic compounds (synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic cathinones, phenethylamine derivatives)

•Databases of 104 psychotropic compounds.•Includes 32 synthetic cannabinoids, 29 cathinone derivatives, 34 phenethylamine derivatives, and others.•There are both GC-PCI-MS/MS and LC-ESI-MS/MS databases.•These databases may be very useful for daily toxicological analysis.

Designer psychotropic compounds continue to be a major problem in Japan and all around the world. Electron impact mass spectrometry (GC-EI-MS) and liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) data on these compounds have been widely reported. In this report, we present a detection method that has been rarely utilized to analyze these types of compounds, gas chromatography with positive chemical ionization and tandem mass spectrometry (GC-PCI-MS/MS). We report on the development of GC-PCI-MS/MS and LC-ESI-MS/MS databases of 104 psychotropic compounds, including 32 cannabinoid derivatives, 29 cathinone derivatives, 34 phenethylamine derivatives, and several other designer compounds. Using this database, we were able to detect 5 psychotropic compounds in an actual forensic autopsy case. If GC-PCI-MS/MS is used together with the more established methods of GC-EI-MS and LC-ESI-MS/MS, we believe the forensic toxicology community could be better prepared to deal with the challenges of these ever-changing compounds.