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Identification and quantification of synthetic cannabinoids in “spice-like” herbal mixtures: update of the German situation for the spring of 2015

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Abstract

In February 2015, 13 “spice-like” products, available on the German market, were analyzed. In total, eight different synthetic cannabinoids were identified by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), namely 5-fluoro-AB-PINACA, AB-CHMINACA, AB-FUBINACA, 5-fluoro-PB-22, 5-fluoro-AMB, MDMB-CHMICA, EAM-2201 and STS-135. In most of the products (11/13), only one synthetic cannabinoid was identified, while two products contained two or three synthetic cannabinoids. For some of the compounds (5-fluoro-AB-PINACA, AB-CHMINACA, 5-fluoro-AMB) only insufficient physicochemical data are available in literature. To our knowledge MDMB-CHMICA (sometimes mistakenly referred to as MBMD-CHMINACA) was not described earlier in scientific literature, and, hence, an in-depth characterization of these compounds by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, electron ionization–mass spectroscopy, electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS/MS), infrared spectroscopy and ultraviolet spectroscopy was conducted for eight compounds. In addition, we developed an ESI-MS method for the direct quantification of synthetic cannabinoids in commercial smoking blends, without chromatographic separation. Quantification was achieved using methyl 3-(3-(1-naphthoyl)-1H-indol-1-yl)propionate as the internal standard with appropriate response factors. The total contents of synthetic cannabinoids in the investigated products ranged from 60 to 446 mg/g, while individual compounds ranged from 12 to 314 mg/g.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Zentrales Innovationsprogramm Mittelstand (ZIM) des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWI) FKZ: KF31565015K3. The authors express their gratitude to Lisa Sieverling, Judith Carla Schürmann and Kerstin Ollenborger for their helpful assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Mendelssohnstr. 1, 38106, Brunswick, Germany

    Nico Langer, Rainer Lindigkeit & Till Beuerle

  2. Chemistry Department, Central Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Hagenring 30, 38106, Brunswick, Germany

    Hans-Martin Schiebel & Uli Papke

  3. Chemistry Department, Central NMR Laboratory, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Hagenring 30, 38106, Brunswick, Germany

    Ludger Ernst

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  1. Nico Langer
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  2. Rainer Lindigkeit
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Correspondence to Till Beuerle.

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Langer, N., Lindigkeit, R., Schiebel, HM. et al. Identification and quantification of synthetic cannabinoids in “spice-like” herbal mixtures: update of the German situation for the spring of 2015. Forensic Toxicol 34, 94–107 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-015-0292-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-015-0292-7

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