Abstract
This study investigates the stability of nitrazepam (NZP), a benzodiazepine drug, under basic conditions, since alkaline putrefactive amines and ammonia are produced once bodies are left to decompose for a long period postmortem after a murder involving NZP or an accidental overdose of NZP. The degradation of NZP in an aqueous alkaline solution was investigated by LC/photodiode array detector (PDA) where the NZP degradation product was isolated and purified by solid-phase extraction using Oasis® MCX, and its chemical structure was determined by LC/time-of-flight (TOF)-MS, NMR spectroscopy, and single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The results revealed that NZP was immediately degraded under basic conditions with 2-amino-5-nitrobenzophenone being an intermediate which further degraded to provide 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzophenone as the final degradation product. These results are expected to be useful in clinical chemistry and forensic science, such as the detection of drugs during postmortem examination and suspected addiction.
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