Problems of Forensic Sciences 2007 Vol. 69 (LXIX) 71-89
ANALYTICAL APPROACHES USED FOR PROFILING OF ECSTASY TABLETS
Karolina CIOROCH, Dariusz ZUBA
Institute of Forensic Research, Krakow
Streszczenie
A phenomenon of drug abuse is one of the major concerns of the citizens of Europe, Americas, Asia and Australia and a major threat to the security and health of the society. Transnational organised crime groups are engaged in drug production and trafficking. Drugs profiling allows their origin, the routes of trafficking or the activity of illegal laboratories to be monitored, thus it is very useful tool for intelligence (strategic, tactical) and evidential purposes. Most important analytical approaches used for profiling of ecstasy tablets were reviewed. A common procedure consists of liquid-liquid extraction of organic impurities followed by the analysis by means of gas chromatography – mass spectrometry. Modern solvent-less extraction techniques such as solid-phase extraction and solid-phase microextraction were also tested for sample preparation. The analysis of organic impurities performed by high performance liquid chromatography and even thin-layer chromatography gave the promising results too. Inorganic impurities profiling can be additional source of information about ecstasy tablets based on their elemental composition. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry is commonly used for this purpose, because of the lowest detection limits. The paper reviews also analytical approaches based on 15N/14N isotopic ratio and the analysis of additives, such as fatty acids and sugars.
Słowa kluczowe
MDMA; Ecstasy; Profiling; Review.