Studies on the metabolism and toxicological detection of the new designer drug 4′-methyl-α-pyrrolidinopropiophenone in urine using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

4′-Methyl-α-pyrrolidinopropiophenone (MPPP) is a new designer drug which has appeared on the illicit drug market. The aim of our study was to identify the MPPP metabolites and to develop a toxicological detection procedure in urine using solid-phase extraction, ethylation and GC–MS. In urine samples of rats treated with MPPP, MPPP was found to be completely metabolized by oxidative desamination, hydroxylation of the 4′-methyl group followed by oxidation finally to the corresponding carboxy compound and/or by hydroxylation of the pyrrolidine ring followed by dehydrogenation to the corresponding lactam. The carboxy groups were found to be partly conjugated. Based on these data, MPPP could be detected in urine via its metabolites by GC–MS using mass chromatography for screening and library search for identification.