Simultaneous profiling of organic and inorganic impurities in α-pyrrolidinopentiophenone (α-PVP).

Simultaneous profiling of organic and inorganic impurities in α-pyrrolidinopentiophenone (α-PVP). J Toxicol Sci. 2019;44(12):849-857 Authors: Hattori N, Kaizaki-Mitsumoto A, Hataoka K, Numazawa S Abstract Abuse of recreational drugs (i.e., synthetic chemicals with the structure or expected neurotropic effects, or both, similar to those of controlled substances) is a serious and continuous social harm. Designer drugs are often manufactured or synthesized in small-scale clandestine laboratories with impure starting materials, poor handling skills and inferior storage conditions. Therefore, in addition to the objective compound, diverse impurities may be present, for example, from the starting material, intermediates, catalytic metals formed during chemical synthesis, and materials from the environment. Impurity profiling of drug seizures is a useful scientific tool to obtain information on the clandestine manufacturers and drug trafficking networks. 1-Phenyl-2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-1-pentanone (α-PVP), a novel psychoactive substance of the cathinone type that is banned in many countries, is still supplied and distributed within the illicit drug market. By using GC-MS and ICP-MS, we identified and estimated the relative contents of organic and inorganic impurities in the bulk powder of 15 batches of α-PVP. We then conducted multivariate data analyses to reveal characteristic patterns of the profiles. Hierarchical cluster analysis of both...
Source: Journal of Toxicological Sciences - Category: Toxicology Tags: J Toxicol Sci Source Type: research