A Comparison of Heroin Samples

A Novel Impurity-Profiling Workflow with the Combination of Flash-Chromatography, UHPLC-MS, and Multivariate Data Analysis for Highly Pure Drugs: A Study on the Synthetic Cannabinoid MDMB-CHMICA

“…These are selected by characterizing samples from varying sources (samples from seizures and from controlled syntheses) and conducting stability tests to minimize the influence of varying environmental and storage conditions on the targeted impurity profile. Several profiling studies have been already published for illicit drugs such as heroin, − cocaine, − methamphetamine, − and amphetamine. − Their general analytical methodology, as sketched in Figure , consists of a straightforward sample preparation via a fast acid–base liquid–liquid extraction step or solid-phase extraction (SPE) to separate and enrich present impurities from the main component, cutting agents, and other adulterants, followed by analysis via gas chromatography (GC) or high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to a mass spectrometer (MS), UV–vis spectrometer, or flame ionization detector (FID). The impurity profiles are then matched via chemometric models to databases of previously seized samples to link seizures. − More difficult is the impurity profiling of counterfeit pharmaceuticals, as these products are typically manufactured at professional industrial sites and exhibit chemical purities similar to that of genuine pharmaceutical preparations of >99.9% purity (0.05–0.1% permissible impurities, depending on the allowed maximum daily intake).…”