An Analytical Perspective on Determination of Free Base Nicotine in E-Liquids

In electronic cigarette users, nicotine delivery to lungs depends on various factors. One of the important factors is e-liquid nicotine concentration. Nicotine concentration in e-liquids ranges from 0 to >50 mg/mL. Furthermore, nicotine exists in protonated and unprotonated ("free base") forms. The two forms are believed to affect the nicotine absorption in body. Therefore, in addition to total nicotine concentration, e-liquids should be characterized for their free base nicotine yield. Two approaches are being used for the determination of free base nicotine in e-liquids. The first is applying a dilution to e-liquids followed by two methods: Henderson-Hasselbalch theory application or a Liquid-Liquid Extraction. The second is the without-dilution approach followed by ¹H NMR method. Here, we carried out controlled experiments using five e-liquids of different flavors using these two approaches. In the dilution approach, the Henderson-Hasselbalch method was tested using potentiometric titration. The accuracy was found to be >98% for all five e-liquid samples (n = 3). A Liquid-Liquid Extraction was carried out using toluene or hexane as extraction solvent. The Liquid-Liquid Extraction technique was found to be limited by solvent interactions with flavors. Solvent extractions resulted in flavor dependent inaccuracies in free base nicotine determination (5 to 277% of calculated values). The without-dilution approach was carried out using ¹H NMR as described by Duell et al. This approach is proposed to offer an independent and alternative scale. None of the methods have established a strong correlation between pre- and postvaporization free base nicotine yield. Here we present comparative results of two approaches using analytical techniques. Such a comparison would be helpful in establishing a standardized method for free base nicotine determination of e-liquids.