A study of the use of Ephedra in the manufacture of methamphetamine

Barker, William; Antia, Ushtana

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2006.04.005

Cited by 35 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…[15,16] Important to detection applications, ephedrine can be chemically reduced to synthesize the illicit drug (+)-methamphetamine. [17] The ease with which ephedrine can be acquired and its use as the primary precursor in the illicit synthesis of a very popular and dangerous drug makes the compound a relevant and interesting candidate for investigation by THz spectroscopy. Ephedrine is also of particular interest given the recent work on the hydrochloride salt of (+)-methamphetamine.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of (1R,2S)‐(−)‐Ephedrine by Cryogenic Terahertz Spectroscopy and Solid‐State Density Functional Theory

et al. 2009

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The terahertz (THz) spectrum of the pharmaceutical (1R,2S)-(-)-ephedrine from 8.0 to 100.0 cm(-1) is investigated at liquid-nitrogen (78.4 K) temperature. The spectrum exhibits several distinct features in this range that are characteristic of the crystal form of the compound. A complete structural analysis and vibrational assignment of the experimental spectrum is performed using solid-state density functional theory (DFT) and cryogenic single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Theoretical modeling of the compound includes an array of density functionals and basis sets with the final assignment of the THz spectrum performed at a PW91/6-311G(d,p) level of theory, which provides excellent solid-state simulation agreement with experiment. The solid-state analysis indicates that the seven experimental spectral features observed at low temperature consist of 13 IR-active vibrational modes. Of these modes, nine are external crystal vibrations and provide approximately 57% of the predicted spectral intensity. This study demonstrates that the THz spectra of complex pharmaceuticals may be well reproduced by solid-state DFT calculations and that inclusion of the crystalline environment is necessary for realistic and accurate simulations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of (1R,2S)‐(−)‐Ephedrine by Cryogenic Terahertz Spectroscopy and Solid‐State Density Functional Theory

et al. 2009

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“…6). 25) A pair of two naphthalenes, 1,3-dimethyl-2-phenylnaphthalene and 1-benzyl-3-methylnaphthalene, are considered specific for the Nagai method (l-EP or d-pEP with hydriodic acid and red phosphorus). P2P is known as the precursor chemical for Leuckart reaction and reductive amination routes whereas it is also a by-product of EP routes.…”

Section: Identification Of Impuritiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization and Profiling of Methamphetamine Seizures

Inoue

Iwata

Kuwayama

2008

JOURNAL OF HEALTH SCIENCE

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Methamphetamine (MA) is the most common drug of abuse in Japan. MA is produced by chemical synthesis and final products of the drug contain small amounts of precursor chemicals, intermediates and by-products. Chirality is a principal characteristic of MA for evaluating the precursor chemicals. Adulterants such as dimethyl sulfone might be associated closely with trafficking routes of illicit drugs. Drug profiling is a scientific tool to identify the synthesis route, the sources of supply, trafficking routes and connections between seizures, which supports drug law enforcement agencies in their effort to eliminate organized drug crime. This review summarizes methods for characterization and profiling of MA hydrochloride, mainly based on our findings.

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“…Dexamphetamine is a psychostimulant drug which is used for the treatment of the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder of children [1,2] and narcolepsy [3]. Dexamphetamine can be synthesized by various methods, for example, starting from chiral precursors such as 1R,2S-(À)-norephedrine or 1S,2S-(1)-norpseudoephedrine [4,5]. Alternatively dexamphetamine can be obtained from racemic amphetamine synthesized from phenylacetone by Leuckart reaction or by reduction of phenylacetone oxime [6,7] followed by fractional crystallization using L-(1)-tartaric acid [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impurity profiling of dexamphetamine sulfate by cyclodextrin‐modified microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography

Scriba

2010

Electrophoresis

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A CD-modified microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography method has been developed and validated for dexamphetamine sulfate which allows the simultaneous determination of charged and uncharged impurities of the drug including the levorotary (R)-enantiomer. The optimized background electrolyte consisted of 1.5% w/w SDS, 0.5% w/w ethyl acetate, 3.5% w/w 1-butanol, 2.5% w/w 2-propanol and 92% w/w 50 mM sodium phosphate buffer, pH 3.0, containing 5.5% w/w sulfated β-CD. Separations were performed in a 50.2/40 cm, 50 μm id fused silica capillary at a temperature of 20°C and an applied voltage of -14 kV. Carbamazepine was used as internal standard. The assay was validated in the range of 0.1-1.0% for the related substances and 0.1-5.0% for levoamphetamine based on a concentration of 3 mg/mL of dexamphetamine sulfate. The LOD of all analytes ranged between 0.05 and 0.2%. In commercial samples of dexamphetamine sulfate, levoamphetamine was found at concentrations between 3.2 and 3.8%, whereas none of the other impurities could be detected.

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A study of the use of Ephedra in the manufacture of methamphetamine

Cited by 35 publications

References 16 publications

Investigation of (1R,2S)‐(−)‐Ephedrine by Cryogenic Terahertz Spectroscopy and Solid‐State Density Functional Theory

Investigation of (1R,2S)‐(−)‐Ephedrine by Cryogenic Terahertz Spectroscopy and Solid‐State Density Functional Theory

Characterization and Profiling of Methamphetamine Seizures

Impurity profiling of dexamphetamine sulfate by cyclodextrin‐modified microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography

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