A Rapid Test for Heroin (3,6‐Diacetylmorphine) Based on Two Chemiluminescence Reactions

Abstract

A rapid method for screening drug seizure samples for 3,6-diacetylmorphine (heroin), which consists of a simple hydrolysis procedure and flow-injection analysis with two chemiluminescence reagents, is described. Before hydrolysis, 3,6-diacetylmorphine evokes an intense response with a tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(III) reagent (prepared by dissolving the perchlorate salt in acetonitrile), and a relatively weak chemiluminescence response with a second reagent: potassium permanganate in an aqueous acidic polyphosphate solution. However, the permanganate reagent is extremely sensitive toward the hydrolysis products of 3,6-diacetylmorphine (i.e., 6-monoacetylmorphine and morphine). Some compounds commonly found in drug laboratories may cause false positives with tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(III), but do not produce the markedly increased response with the permanganate reagent after the hydrolysis procedure. The combination of these two tests therefore provides an effective presumptive test for the presence of 3,6-diacetylmorphine, which we have verified with 14 samples obtained from a forensic science laboratory.

Chemiluminescence and electrochemiluminescence detection of controlled drugs

“…These reagents have also been used to determine morphine, codeine and other opioids in applications including: (1) monitoring the industrial‐scale extraction of alkaloids from opium poppies;63, 83, 111, 126–130 (2) analysis of pharmaceutical preparations and seized illicit drugs;60, 78, 122, 124, 131, 132 and (3) the determination of these drugs and their metabolites in biological fluids65, 79, 133–137 and in the larvae of insects commonly found on the bodies of drug overdose victims 138, 139…”

“…We have found that codeine, strychnine, and chloroquine strongly interfere with an FIA procedure to rapidly screen seized drug samples for the presence of heroin based on the chemiluminescence reaction with Ru(bipy) 3 3+ 131, 143. However, the target analyte can be clearly distinguished from these interferents by a quick, base‐catalysed hydrolysis to morphine and subsequent chemiluminescence reaction with permanganate, providing an unambiguous two‐step FIA test for heroin 131, 143. This concept was subsequently adopted in an SIA procedure, in which the sample was sandwiched between the two reagents 124…”

The characteristic red chemiluminescence from reactions with acidic potassium permanganate: further spectroscopic evidence for a manganese(ii) emitter

“…28 Many other researchers have suggested that the chemiluminescence emanates from a manganese(II) species. 5,6,8,[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] Some evidence to support this proposal has been presented: the spectral distribution of the chemiluminescence from reactions with acidic potassium permanganate [manganese(VII)] matches that from reactions with manganese(IV) or manganese(III), and the emission occurs in a similar spectral region to the phosphorescence ( 4 T 1 A 6 A 1 transition) of manganese(II) in phosphate glass and in solution at 77 K. 28 However, a direct comparison between acidic potassium permanganate chemiluminescence and the photoluminescence of manganese(II) in simple solution at room temperature has been elusive, due to the forbidden character of the transitions in the d 5 high-spin configuration. 39,40 In contrast to solutions of potassium permanganate [manganese(VII)], which are intensely coloured, solutions of manganese(II) salts are almost colourless.…”

Chemiluminescence detection of cannabinoids and related compounds with acidic potassium permanganate

“…Chemiluminescence (the emission of light from an electronically excited product of a chemical reaction) has been exploited as a highly sensitive mode of detection for many pharmaceuticals and controlled drugs, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] including opioids (e.g. morphine, [9] heroin [10] ), tranquilizers (e.g. loprazolam, [11] nitrazepam [12] ) stimulants (e.g.…”