Abstract: Objective To establish a liquid chromatography-tandem mass chromatography (LC-MS/MS) method for the simultaneous screening for 22 poisonous alkaloids in blood. Methods This method involves a liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with multiple-reaction monitoring(MRM). After blood was extracted with buprenorphine as the internal standard,the target compounds were analyzed with LC-MS/MS-ESI in the positive ionization mode. Results Identification was based on the compound′s retention time and two precursor-to-product ion transitions. The limits of detection ranged from 0.1ng/mL to 20 ng/mL in blood. Conclusion The method was sufficiently selective and sensitive to detect poisonous alkaloids and can be applied in forensic and clinical toxicology.

Key words: poisonous alkaloids, screening, LC-MS/MS, multiple-reaction monitoring(MRM)