High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of flocoumafen and brodifacoum in whole blood.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric (HPLC-MS-MS) assay was developed and validated to determine quantitatively flocoumafen and brodifacoum in whole blood using warfarin as an internal standard (IS). Liquid-liquid extraction, using ethyl acetate, was used to isolate flocoumafen, brodifacoum and the IS from the biological matrix. Detection was performed on a mass spectrometer by negative electrospray ionization (ESI) in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The calibration curves were linear (r(2) > 0.998) in the concentration range of 0.1-100.0 ng ml(-1) with a lower limit of quantification of 0.05 ng ml(-1) for flocoumafen, and 0.1 ng ml(-1) for brodifacoum in whole blood. Intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations (RSDs) were less than 8.0% and 10.8%, respectively. Recoveries of flocoumafen and brodifacoum ranged from 78.0% to 83.7%. This assay can be used to determine trace flocoumafen and brodifacoum in whole blood to investigate suspected poisoning of human and animals.