Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry has evolved from a topic of mainly research interest into a routinely usable tool in various application fields. With the advent of new ionization approaches, especially atmospheric pressure, the technique has established itself firmly in many areas of research. Although many applications prove that LC-MS is a valuable complementary analytical tool to GC-MS and has the potential to largely extend the application field of mass spectrometry to hitherto "MS-phobic" molecules, we must recognize that the use of LC-MS in forensic toxicology remains relatively rare. This rarity is all the more surprising because forensic toxicologists find themselves often confronted with the daunting task of actually searching for evidence materials on a scientific basis without any indication of the direction in which to search. Through the years, mass spectrometry, mainly in the GC-MS form, has gained a leading role in the way such quandaries are tackled. The advent of robust, bioanalytically compatible combinations of liquid chromatographic separation with mass spectrometric detection really opens new perspectives in terms of mass spectrometric identification of difficult molecules (e.g., polar metabolites) or biopolymers with toxicological relevance, high throughput, and versatility. Of course, analytical toxicologists are generally mass spectrometry users rather than mass spectrometrists, and this difference certainly explains the slow start of LC-MS in this field. Nevertheless, some valuable applications have been published, and it seems that the introduction of the more universal atmospheric pressure ionization interfaces really has boosted interests. This review presents an overview of what has been realized in forensic toxicological LC-MS. After a short introduction into LC-MS interfacing operational characteristics (or limitations), it covers applications that range from illicit drugs to often abused prescription medicines and some natural poisons. As such, we hope it can act as an appetizer to those involved in forensic toxicology but still hesitating to invest in LC-MS.

中文翻译：

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法医毒理学中的液相色谱-质谱联用。

液相色谱-质谱法已经从主要研究兴趣的主题发展成为各种应用领域中的常规工具。随着新的电离方法（特别是大气压）的出现，该技术已在许多研究领域中确立了自己的地位。尽管许多应用证明LC-MS是GC-MS的宝贵补充分析工具，并且有可能将质谱的应用领域扩展到迄今为止的“ MS-phobic”分子，但我们必须认识到LC-MS的使用在法医毒理学上仍然相对罕见。这种稀有性更加令人惊讶，因为法医毒理学家发现自己经常面临着艰巨的任务，即在科学的基础上实际搜索证据材料而没有指明搜索方向。多年来，质谱法（主要是GC-MS形式）在解决此类难题方面已占据主导地位。液相色谱分离与质谱检测功能强大，生物分析兼容的组合的出现，确实在质谱鉴定具有毒理学相关性，高通量和多功能性的困难分子（例如，极性代谢产物）或生物聚合物方面开辟了新的前景。当然，分析毒理学家通常是质谱仪的使用者，而不是质谱仪的使用者，这种差异无疑可以解释LC-MS在该领域起步缓慢的原因。然而，已经发表了一些有价值的应用，并且似乎更通用的大气压电离界面的引入确实引起了人们的兴趣。这篇综述介绍了法医毒理学LC-MS中已实现的内容。在简要介绍了LC-MS接口操作特性（或局限性）之后，它涵盖了从非法药物到经常滥用的处方药和某些天然毒物的各种应用。因此，我们希望它可以作为法医毒理学研究的开胃菜，但仍在犹豫是否要投资LC-MS。而且似乎更通用的大气压电离界面的引入确实引起了人们的兴趣。这篇综述介绍了法医毒理学LC-MS中已实现的内容。在简要介绍了LC-MS接口操作特性（或局限性）之后，它涵盖了从非法药物到经常滥用的处方药和某些天然毒物的各种应用。因此，我们希望它可以作为法医毒理学研究的开胃菜，但仍在犹豫是否要投资LC-MS。而且似乎更通用的大气压电离界面的引入确实引起了人们的兴趣。这篇综述介绍了法医毒理学LC-MS中已实现的内容。在简要介绍了LC-MS接口操作特性（或局限性）之后，它涵盖了从非法药物到经常滥用的处方药和某些天然毒物的各种应用。因此，我们希望它可以作为法医毒理学研究的开胃菜，但仍在犹豫是否要投资LC-MS。它涵盖了从非法药物到经常滥用的处方药和某些天然毒物的各种应用。因此，我们希望它可以作为法医毒理学研究的开胃菜，但仍在犹豫是否要投资LC-MS。它涵盖了从非法药物到经常滥用的处方药和一些天然毒物的各种应用。因此，我们希望它可以作为法医毒理学研究的开胃菜，但仍在犹豫是否要投资LC-MS。