UHPLC-MS/MS quantitation of porphyroxine in opium and application of porphyroxine-acetylated products as signature markers for heroin.

Porphyroxine, a trace alkaloid in opium, was identified in the early 1800s and isolated/characterized in the 1960s. Recently, two significant porphyroxine-related byproducts found in the acidic and neutral extracts of illicit heroin were characterized by this laboratory as the N-acetyl-O -desmethyl-epi-porphyroxine (B) and N,O -diacetyl-O -desmethyl-epi-porphyroxine (C). The prevalence of the B and C compounds has been consistent in the following order of abundance for the thousands of authentic heroin samples analyzed: Southwest Asia (SWA) > South America (SA) > Southeast Asia (SEA) > Mexico (MEX).