Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Three 25-NBOMe-type drugs, three other phenethylamine-type drugs (25I-NBMD, RH34, and escaline), eight cathinone derivatives, and a phencyclidine analog MMXE, newly identified in ingredients of drug products before they were sold on the drug market

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Forensic Toxicology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Twenty-two samples of ingredients of recreational drugs before being sold on the drug market obtained from a dubious drug dealer were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, high-resolution mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The present study showed 15 novel designer drugs, which have not been described in scientific literature. They included three NBOMe drugs 25H-NBOMe, 25D-NBOMe, and 25E-NBOMe, three other phenethylamine-type drugs 25I-NBMD, RH34, and escaline, eight cathinone derivatives 5-DBFPV, 3,4-MDPHP, 3,4-dimethyl-NEB, 3,4-dimethyl-α-ethylaminopentiophenone, 3,4-dimethyl-α-PVP, 4F-α-ethylaminopentiophenone, bk-IVP, and bk-IBP, and a phencyclidine derivative MMXE. In addition to the above novel compounds, known compounds such as 25I-NBOMe, ADB-CHIMINACA, 5F-ADB, and butane-1,4-diol were also identified from some samples. The electron ionization mass spectra, high-resolution data of molecular formulae, and NMR spectra presented in this article seem very useful for forensic toxicologists, who are obliged to identify new psychotropic drugs in any dubious products and/or human specimens.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Numazawa S (2013) The forefront of drug abuse—recent trends in illegal drug markets in Japan, 2012. The Showa University Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 4:13–25 (in Japanese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Scientific Working Group for the Analysis of Seized Drugs (2014) SWGDRUG MS library version 2.2. http://www.swgdrug.org/ms.htm. Accessed November 2014

  3. Cayman Chemical (2014) Cayman spectral library. https://www.caymanchem.com/app/template/SpectralLibrary.vm. Accessed November 2014

  4. Uchiyama N, Shimokawa Y, Matsuda S, Kawamura M, Kikura-Hanajiri R, Goda Y (2014) Two new synthetic cannabinoids, AM-2201 benzimidazole analog (FUBIMINA) and (4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)(1-pentyl-1H-indol-3-yl)methanone (MEPIRAPIM), and three phenethylamine derivatives, 25H-NBOMe 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzyl analog, 25B-NBOMe, and 2C-N-NBOMe, identified in illegal products. Forensic Toxicol 32:105–115

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Poklis JL, Devers KG, Arbefeville EF, Pearson JM, Houston E, Poklis A (2014) Postmortem detection of 25I-NBOMe [2-(4-iodo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-N-[(2-methoxyphenyl)methyl]ethanamine] in fluids and tissues determined by high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry from a traumatic death. Forensic Sci Int 234:e14–e20

    Article  PubMed  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Kueppers VB, Cooke CT (2015) 25I-NBOMe related death in Australia: a case report. Forensic Sci Int 249:e15–e18

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Suzuki J, Dekker MA, Valenti ES, Arbelo Cruz FA, Correa AM, Poklis JL, Poklis A (2015) Toxicities associated with NBOMe ingestion-a novel class of potent hallucinogens: a review of the literature. Psychosomatics 56:129–139

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Wurita A, Hasegawa K, Minakata K, Gonmori K, Nozawa H, Yamagishi I, Watanabe K, Suzuki O (2015) Identification and quantitation of 5-fluoro-ADB-PINACA and MAB-CHMINACA in dubious herbal products. Forensic Toxicol 33:213–220

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Hasegawa K, Wurita A, Minakata K, Gonmori K, Yamagishi I, Nozawa H, Watanabe K, Suzuki O (2015) Identification and quantitation of 5-fluoro-ADB, one of the most dangerous synthetic cannabinoids, in the stomach contents and solid tissues of a human cadaver and in some herbal products. Forensic Toxicol 33:112–121

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Dahl SR, Olsen KM, Strand DH (2012) Determination of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), pregabalin, 1,4-butane-diol (1,4BD) and gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) in whole blood and urine samples by UPLC-MSMS. J Chromatogr B 885/886:37–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Corazza O, Schifano F, Simonato P, Fergus S, Assi S, Stair J, Corkery J, Trincas G, Deluca P, Davey Z, Blaszko U, Demetrovics Z, Moskalewicz J, Farre M, Flesland L, Pasinetti M, Pezzolesi C, Pisarska A, Shapiro H, Siemann H, Skutle A, Enea A, di Melchiorre G, Sferrazza E, Torrens M, van der Kreeft P, Zummo D, Scherbaum N (2012) Phenomenon of new drugs on the Internet: the case of ketamine derivative methoxetamine. Hum Psychopharmacol Clin Exp 27:145–149

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 15K18908. The authors are grateful to Mr. Atsushi Hosoya (a research collaborator) for his assistance obtaining drug samples.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Toxicology, Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics, Showa University School of Pharmacy, 1-5-8 Hatanodai, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Asuka Kaizaki-Mitsumoto, Naoki Noguchi, Saki Yamaguchi & Satoshi Numazawa

  2. Center for Instrumental Analysis, Showa University School of Pharmacy, Tokyo, Japan

    Yuki Odanaka & Satoko Matsubayashi

  3. Department of Medicinal and Industrial Chemistry, Showa University School of Pharmacy, Tokyo, Japan

    Hiroki Kumamoto & Kiyoshi Fukuhara

  4. National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan

    Masahiko Funada

  5. Saitama Prefectural Psychiatric Hospital, Kitaadachi-gun, Saitama, Japan

    Kiyoshi Wada

Authors
  1. Asuka Kaizaki-Mitsumoto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Naoki Noguchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Saki Yamaguchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yuki Odanaka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Satoko Matsubayashi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Hiroki Kumamoto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Kiyoshi Fukuhara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Masahiko Funada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Kiyoshi Wada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Satoshi Numazawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Satoshi Numazawa.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

There are no financial or other relations that could lead to a conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kaizaki-Mitsumoto, A., Noguchi, N., Yamaguchi, S. et al. Three 25-NBOMe-type drugs, three other phenethylamine-type drugs (25I-NBMD, RH34, and escaline), eight cathinone derivatives, and a phencyclidine analog MMXE, newly identified in ingredients of drug products before they were sold on the drug market. Forensic Toxicol 34, 108–114 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-015-0293-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-015-0293-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation