25B-NBOMe Research Articles

Determination of 21 synthetic cathinones, phenethylamines, amphetamines and opioids in influent wastewater using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry

Human consumption of illicit novel psychoactive substances (NPS) is a continuing problem. New derivatives are constantly appearing, circumventing national and international laws. The use of these compounds tend to be sporadic and many are consumed as mixtures, meaning very low amounts of each are detectable at any one time. The analysis of excreted NPS in wastewater provides information on community prevalence. A wastewater-based epidemiology approach has been applied in the current study for the quantification of 21 NPS. These include three phenethylamines (25B–NBOMe, 25C–NBOMe, 25I–NBOMe), ten synthetic cathinones (3-ethylmethcathinone (3-EMC), 3-methylbuphedrone, 3-methylmethcathinone (3-MMC), 4-fluoromethcathinone (4-FMC), 4-methylbuphedrone, 4-methylethcathinone (4-MEC), buphedrone, butylone, N-ethylpentylone and pentylone), five synthetic opioid analgesics (AH-7921, butyryl fentanyl, furanyl fentanyl, U-47700 and valeryl fentanyl) as well as the synthetic amphetamine 4-fluoroamphemtaine (4-FA), ketamine analogue methoxetamine and methiopropamine. Limits of detection were between 0.01 and 0.5 ng/L and limits of quantification were between 0.05 and 1 ng/L. The method was applied to wastewater samples from South Australia collected over the Christmas-New Year period when recreational drug use tends to be high. Seven NPS (butylone, butyryl fentanyl, furanyl fentanyl, methoxetamine, N-ethylpentylone, pentylone and valeryl fentanyl) were found, with N-ethylpentylone showing the highest mass loads at 36 mg/day/1000 inhabitants.

Rapid Screening Method for New Psychoactive Substances of Forensic Interest: Electrochemistry and Analytical Determination of Phenethylamines Derivatives (NBOMe) via Cyclic and Differential Pulse Voltammetry.

The NBOMe derivatives are phenethylamines derived from the 2C class of hallucinogens. Only a few human pharmacologic studies have been conducted on these drugs, and several cases of intoxication and deaths have been reported. Presently, NBOMe are not a part of the routine drugs-of-abuse screening procedure for many police forces, and there are no rapid immunoassay screening tests that can detect the presence of those compounds. In this Article, the voltammetric behavior of 25B NBOMe and 25I NBOMe were investigated and their electroanalytical characteristics determined for the first time. A novel, fast, and sensitive screening method for the identification of the two most common NBOMes (25B-NBOMe and 25I-NBOMe) in real samples is reported. The method uses the electrochemical oxidation of these molecules to produce an analytical signal that can be related to the NBOMe concentration with an average lower limit of quantitation of 0.01 mg/mL for both of them. The method is selective enough to identify the two compounds individually, even given the great similarity in their structure.

Identification of novel psychoactive substances 25B-NBOMe and 4-CMC in biological material using HPLC-Q-TOF-MS and their quantification in blood using UPLC-MS/MS in case of severe intoxications.

This paper describes cases of poisoning caused by new psychoactive substances such as: 25B-NBOMe (2-(4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-N-[(2-methoxyphenyl)methyl]ethanamine) and 4-CMC (1-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-(methylamino)-1-propanone). The analytical procedure includes rapid and selective method for the extraction and determination of 4-CMC and 25B-NBOMe in blood samples using UPLC-MS/MS technique. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report, that involves a fully validated method for quantification of new-designer drug - 4-CMC in postmortem blood samples. The biological material was also analyzed with the use of routine analytical methods: immunochemical techniques, gas chromatography with flame ionization detection and gas chromatography with electron impact mass spectrometry. The results of real samples analyses correspond to possible toxicological effects: death resulting from 25B-NBOMe - mediated hallucinations (661ng/mL of 25B-NBOMe and 0.887ng/mL of 4-CMC), fatal overdose of 25B-NBOMe and 4-CMC (66.5ng/mL of 25B-NBOMe and 2.14ng/mL of 4-CMC) and non-fatal intoxication of these drugs (38.4ng/mL of 25B NBOMe and 0.181ng/mL of 4-CMC). Additionally, O-demethylathed O, O-bis-demethylathed and glucuronidated metabolites of 25B-NBOMe in biological specimens were detected.