The black market for new psychoactive substances has been constantly evolving and the substances that appear on this market cause a considerable number of issues, in extreme cases leading to human deaths. While monitoring the drug black market, we detected a sample of a dissociative anesthetic methoxphenidine, the salt of which contained an unusual anion in the form of bromo- and chloro-zincate complex. Concerning the unknown and potentially hazardous properties of this sample, we performed an in vitro cytotoxicity screening in cell lines of various origins (e.g., kidney, liver, bladder) which was compared with the toxicity results of the methoxphenidine standard prepared for this purpose. The street methoxphenidine sample exhibited markedly higher toxicity than the standard, which was probably caused by the anion impurity. Since it is not usual to analyze anions in salts of novel psychoactive substances, but such samples may be commonly available at the drug black market, we have developed a method for their identification with X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), which also enabled us to distinguish between different polymorphs/solvates of methoxphenidine that were crystallized in the laboratory. XRPD offers additional data about samples, which may not be discovered by routine techniques, and in some cases, they may help to find out essential information.

• Klíčová slova
• X-ray powder diffraction, crystal structure, cytotoxicity, dissociative anesthetic, inorganic impurity, methoxphenidine, new psychoactive substances, novel synthetic drug,
• MeSH
• anestetika disociativní škodlivé účinky   MeSH
• difrakce rentgenového záření metody   MeSH
• kultivované buňky MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• piperidiny škodlivé účinky   MeSH
• psychotropní léky škodlivé účinky   MeSH
• zakázané drogy škodlivé účinky   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• 1-(1-(2-methoxyphenyl)-2-phenylethyl)piperidine MeSH Prohlížeč
• anestetika disociativní MeSH
• piperidiny MeSH
• psychotropní léky MeSH
• zakázané drogy MeSH

New psychoactive substances (NPSs) are associated with a significant number of intoxications. With the number of readily available forms of these drugs rising every year, there are even risks for the general public. Consequently, there is a high demand for methods sufficiently sensitive to detect NPSs in samples found at the crime scene. Infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopies are commonly used for such detection, but they have limitations; for example, fluorescence in Raman can overlay the signal and when the sample is a mixture sometimes neither Raman nor IR is able to identify the compounds. Here, we investigate the potential of X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) to analyse samples seized on the black market. A series of psychoactive substances (heroin, cocaine, mephedrone, ephylone, butylone, JWH-073, and naphyrone) was measured. Comparison of their diffraction patterns with those of the respective standards showed that XRPD was able to identify each of the substances. The same samples were analyzed using IR and Raman, which in both cases were not able to detect the compounds in all of the samples. These results suggest that XRPD could be a valuable addition to the range of forensic tools used to detect these compounds in illicit drug samples.

• Klíčová slova
• Raman spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, drug detection, infrared spectroscopy, new psychoactive substances,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH