Direct Analysis of Psilocin and Muscimol in Urine Samples Using Single Drop Microextraction Technique In-Line with Capillary Electrophoresis

Abstract

The fully automated system of single drop microextraction coupled with capillary electrophoresis (SDME-CE) was developed for in-line preconcentration and determination of muscimol (MUS) and psilocin (PSC) from urine samples. Those two analytes are characteristic active metabolites of Amanita and Psilocybe mushrooms, evoking visual and auditory hallucinations. Study analytes were selectively extracted from the donor phase (urine samples, pH 4) into the organic phase (a drop of octanol layer), and re-extracted to the acidic acceptor (background electrolyte, BGE), consisting of 25 mM phosphate buffer (pH 3). The optimized conditions for the extraction procedure of a 200 µL urine sample allowed us to obtain more than a 170-fold enrichment effect. The calibration curves were linear in the range of 0.05–50 mg L−1, with the correlation coefficients from 0.9911 to 0.9992. The limit of detections was determined by spiking blank urine samples with appropriate standards, i.e., 0.004 mg L−1 for PSC and 0.016 mg L−1 for MUS, respectively. The limits of quantification varied from 0.014 mg L−1 for PSC and 0.045 mg L−1 for MUS. The developed method practically eliminated the sample clean-up step, which was limited only to simple dilution (1:1, v/v) and pH adjustment.