DETECTION OF SYNTHETIC CANABINOID IN THE ABSENCE OF STANDARD USING SPECTROSCOPIC AND SPECTROMETRIC TECHNIQUES

A CASE REPORT

Abstract

The detection of synthetic cannabinoids represents a huge challenge for Forensic Toxicology, due to the great variety of structures, the difficulty in obtaining analytical standards
and the need for constant updating of methodology and spectral libraries. However, the
combination of spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques allows, respecting international quality recommendations, the obtention of an analytical result that makes it possible
to establish the presence of substances of this pharmaceutical class. The purpose of this
study is to present a case report of a stamp that was sent to the Narcotics Examination
Center of the Superintendence of the Technical and Scientific Police of the State of São
Paulo for analysis. For this purpose, the suspicious material was extracted with methanol
and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry was applied, with concomitant analysis by the Spectroscopy technique in the Infrared region with Fourier Transform.
The analysis by Mass Spectrometry, after separation by gas chromatography, and by Spectroscopy in the Infrared region with Fourier Transform allowed the identification of the
substance 5F-MDMB-PICA, with a good match percentage in both techniques. The use of
a combination of spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques, combined with separation
techniques, are sufficient tools for the detection, within international standards, of proscribed substances belonging to the group of synthetic cannabinoids.