Identification of cannabichromene metabolites by mass spectrometry: identification of eight new dihydroxy metabolites in the rabbit

Metabolites of cannabichromene (CBC) produced by hepatic microsomal incubates from rabbits and mice were examined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) as trimethylsilyl (TMS) and (2H9)TMS derivatives. Most metabolites were hydroxylated compounds whose mass spectra gave very little information on metabolite structure as fragmentation was dominated by formation of the substituted chromenyl ion. This prevented charge localization and diagnostic fragmentation at the site of metabolic attack. This paper describes the identification of these metabolites by GC/MS techniques using both deuterium-exchange reactions and hydrogenation of the metabolites to tetrahydro derivatives; the latter method was used to suppress chromenyl ion formation and to enhance the relative abundance of diagnostic fragment ions. Twenty-one metabolites were identified. Metabolites were found hydroxylated in all positions of both aliphatic chains, with additional compounds formed by epoxidation and reduction of the aliphatic double bond in the methylpentenyl chain. Dihydroxy metabolites were hydoxylated in both the pentyl and methylpentenyl chains in positions common to those hydroxylated in the monohydroxy metabolites.