Profiling of methamphetamine

Abstract

We review our studies of drug profiling of methamphetamine, the most abused drug in Japan, in this article. Drug profile was defined as a set of specific characteristics selected to provide information on the drug sources and histories, such as starting materials, synthetic routes and clandestine manufacturing. We developed a method for methamphetamine impurity-profiling using capillary gas chromatography. Impurities were extracted from methamphetamine hydrochloride with an organic solvent under alkaline conditions, and detected very well with good resolution. Using four internal standards improved the correction of retention times for inter-day or inter-laboratory comparisons of chromatograms. We also investigated the simultaneous chiral separation of 9 amphetamine-type stimulants that include methamphetamine and the precursors by capillary electrophoresis. The enantiomers were well resolved, and small peaks of the precursor impurities (i.e. ephedrines) of methamphetamine were detectable by analyzing the solution. We also investigated an evaluation method for linking MA seizures using stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry, and the usefulness of crystal-level profiling analysis was shown. Combining the several analyses revealed detail drug profiles, and enabled to acquire much more information on linking or discriminating seizures as well as the clandestine manufacturing of the drug. © 2014 The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry.