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. 2022 Jan;40(1):132-143.
doi: 10.1007/s11419-021-00597-4. Epub 2021 Sep 14.

Identification and structural characterization of three psychoactive substances, phenylpiperazines (pBPP and 3,4-CFPP) and a cocaine analogue (troparil), in collected samples

Magdalena Popławska  1 , Elżbieta Bednarek  2 , Beata Naumczuk  3 , Agata Błażewicz  3
Affiliations

Identification and structural characterization of three psychoactive substances, phenylpiperazines (pBPP and 3,4-CFPP) and a cocaine analogue (troparil), in collected samples

Magdalena Popławska et al. Forensic Toxicol. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

Purpose: New psychoactive substances (NPSs) still appear on the market, mainly due to their legal status. This situation indicates and alarms that permanent recognition of the designer drug scene should be conducted. In this paper, we describe the detection of three psychoactive substances in samples collected from drug users.

Methods: Qualitative characterization was performed using liquid chromatography-high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry with a quadrupole time-of-flight analyzer, gas chromatography with mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Results: In this study, we reported the detection and structural elucidation of three psychoactive substances: 1-(4-bromophenyl)piperazine (pBPP), 1-(3-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)piperazine (3,4-CFPP) and methyl 8-methyl-3-phenyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-4-carboxylate (troparil).

Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that presents an identification methodology for these substances found in illegal products. Comprehensive characterization of the NPSs presented in this paper facilitates their detection and identification by forensic and clinical laboratories.

Keywords: Bromophenylpiperazine; Chlorofluorophenylpiperazine; Cocaine analogue; New psychoactive substance; Phenylpiperazines; Troparil.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Gas chromatography–electron ionization mass spectra of pBPP (compound 1) (a), 3,4-CFPP (compound 2) (b), and troparil (compound 3) (c) with proposed ion annotations
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Product ion spectra of pBPP (compound 1) (a), 3,4-CFPP (compound 2) (b), and troparil (compound 3) (c) with assigned fragmentation patterns
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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