Highly Sensitive Determination of Carbamazepine and Oxcarbazepine and Identification of Their Degradation Products in Material Evidences and Human Cadaveric Liver by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

The work is devoted to the search for conditions for the sample preparation and determination of carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine and identification of the products of their metabolism and degradation in human liver (post mortem) and material evidences by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. A QUECHERS approach was developed to the sample preparation of carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine. Amitriptyline was proposed as an internal standard. Degradation products of carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine were studied in model solutions upon alkaline and acid hydrolysis and oxidation; 14 metabolites and degradation products were identified. The main analytical characteristics of the developed procedure were determined. The limits of detection are 0.1 and 0.2 µg/g for carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine, respectively. The developed procedure complies with the Validation Guidelines of the Russian Center for Forensic Medical Examination.