As most 1,4-benzodiazepines are DEA schedule IV and V drugs, the penalties associated with the synthesis and abuse of their derivatives are lighter than that of schedule I or II drugs such as heroin. This has led to an increase in designer benzodiazepines; synthetic analogues of benzodiazepines being offered as “legal highs” or novel psychoactive substances (NPS). Designer benzodiazepines have recently been offered for sale by online vendors and overdoses have been reported in Sweden, as well as the United States. Not being designed as medications, designer benzodiazepines have limited physiological and toxicological data and have not undergone any clinical trials. Therefore, there is a lack of information for treating overdoses or identifying the benzodiazepine or its metabolites in biological samples. Flualprazolam, an analogue of the 1,4-benzodiazepine alprazolam, is of notable interest due to the scarcity of published literature on its physiology and metabolism. In order to aid medical professionals and toxicologists, metabolic and analytical data for flualprazolam was obtained via in vitro metabolism experiments. Phase I metabolism is replicated through the use of pooled human liver microsomes (pHLM), and a method was developed for analysis by GC-MS, instead of the more common HPLC. The method developed for the in vitro experiments and proposed primary phase I metabolites of flualprazolam are presented.

Analysis of designer benzodiazepine flualprazolam and its in vitro metabolites using GC-MS

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

[Author Benefits](https://scimeetings.acs.org/?utm_source=pubs_content_marketing&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=0320_MCF_NPI_Launch_Spring_Homepage&ref=pubs_content_marketing)

[How to use SciMeetings](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMeetings-ACSSpring2020-HowToGuide_M3020-Final.pdf)

[Frequently Asked Questions](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMtng_ACSNMSp2020_FAQ_M3120_Final.pdf)

ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.