송지영 (과학기술연합대학원대학교, 한국표준과학연구원)

윤소희 (한국표준과학연구원)

송지영 (과학기술연합대학원대학교, 한국표준과학연구원)

윤소희 (한국표준과학연구원)

Recently, as the medical potential of hemp and its deregulation have been actively discussed at home and abroad, the rapid and accurate analysis of hemp components has emerged as an important issue. In particular, Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ8-THC), the active component of hemp, is considered a key indicator in pharmacological and forensic analysis, and there is an urgent need to develop quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques.

 Δ8-THC has a non-polar and thermally sensitive structure, and its low protonation efficiency makes it difficult to ionize by MALDI-TOF Mass analysis. Existing widely used matrices, such as CHCA, DHB, and DAN, are not suitable for precise analysis of Δ8-​THC due to their low ionization efficiency and high background interference in the small molecule region.

In this study, 4-Hydroxy-3-nitrobenzonitrile was proposed as a novel matrix candidate to assess its applicability in THC analysis. This matrix exhibited stable crystallization and a conjugated structure capable of ultraviolet absorption, resulting in high ionization efficiency for small molecules and minimal background interference.

This study highlights the potential of 4-Hydroxy-3-nitrobenzonitrile as a novel matrix for MALDI-TOF Mass analysis of non-polar small molecules, with promising applicability in rapid on-site detection.