Amphetamine-type Stimulants in Drug Testing

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) are a group of ${\beta}$-phenethylamine derivatives that produce central nervous system stimulants effects. The representative ATS are methamphetamine and 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and abuse of ATS has become a global problem. Methamphetamine is abused in North America and Asia, while amphetamine and 3, 4-methyle nedioxym ethamphetamine (Ecstasy) are abused in Europe and Australia. Methamphetamine is also the most abused drug in Korea. In addition to the conventional ATS, new psychoactive substances (NPS) including phenethylamines and synthetic cathinones, which have similar effects and chemical structure to ATS, continue to spread to the global market since 2009, and more than 739 NPS have been identified. For the analysis of ATS, two tests that have different theoretical principles have to be conducted, and screening tests by immunoassay and confirmatory tests using GC/MS or LC/MS are the global standard methods. As most ATS have a chiral center, enantiomer separation is an important point in forensic analysis, and it can be conducted using chiral derivatization reagents or chiral columns. In order to respond to the growing drug crime, it is necessary to develop a fast and efficient analytical method.