A database for comparison analysis of illicit cocaine samples

Chemical profiling of the synthetic cannabinoid MDMB‐CHMICA: Identification, assessment, and stability study of synthesis‐related impurities in seized and synthesized samples

“…In the first step of common impurity‐profiling workflows, the seized material is dissolved and impurities are separated from the main component by acid–base liquid–liquid extraction (LLE), followed by analysis of the enriched impurity extract via liquid or gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC–MS or GC–MS) . The integrated peak signals of a list of pre‐defined key‐impurities are then matched via chemometric models to databases of previously seized samples . The decision whether two samples are somehow linked (eg, come from the same synthesis, the same laboratory, or the same synthesis route) or are not related to each other, requires a thoroughly assessed scientific basis, especially with respect to the legal defensibility of the profiling results.…”

“…[9][10][11][12] The integrated peak signals of a list of pre-defined key-impurities are then matched via chemometric models to databases of previously seized samples. 2,3,13,14 The decision whether two samples are somehow linked (eg, come from the same synthesis, the same laboratory, or the same synthesis route) or are not related to each other, requires a thoroughly assessed scientific basis, especially with respect to the legal defensibility of the profiling results. It is essential for the development of a valid and statistically robust profiling method to provide experimental studies demonstrating the relevance and eligibility of chosen key impurities, their relation to the main component, at which point differences between sample profiles are significant, and which magnitudes of influence can be responsible for these differences.…”

Determination of δ13CV−PDBand δ15NAIRvalues of cocaine from a big seizure in Germany by stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry†

“…The German Forensic Science Institutes have supported the police investigations and the court proceedings by providing expertise on cocaine identification and quantification. For special cases, results from cocaine impurity profiling [2] and from a harmonized method of comparison based on a Canadian approach [3,4] have also been presented.…”

Simultaneous Identification and δ13C Classification of Drugs Using GC with Concurrent Single Quadrupole and Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometers*

“…Janzen et al. (15) used Euclidian distance as a tool to identify matching cocaine profiles to establish links between samples. Further research in these areas could, in time, result in a database that would allow the chemical tracking of selective drug routes (15).…”

“…Ehleringer et al (10) have also shown the current major geographic origins of cocaine and how the cocaine could be identified on the basis of natural variations in isotope ratios related to their variations in environmental habitat parameters. Janzen et al (15) used Euclidian distance as a tool to identify matching cocaine profiles to establish links between samples. Further research in these areas could, in time, result in a database that would allow the chemical tracking of selective drug routes (15).…”