A new potent serotonin 5-HT2A receptor agonist, 25I-NBOH, was identified in blotter papers by several state-level forensic laboratories in Brazil. The molecule is labile and fragments into 2C-I during routine GC screening, requiring GC-MS, LC-QTOF-MS, FTIR, and NMR for full characterization. Individual doses range from 300 to 1000 μg. Although it is a potent 5-HT2A receptor agonist, 25I-NBOH is not registered with the UNODC and is controlled only in Sweden and Brazil. This is the first scientific report of 25I-NBOH identification in actual seizures.
25I-NBOH, a novel psychoactive substance found on blotter paper in Brazil, can be misidentified as 2C-I by routine gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) because it degrades into 2C-I inside the injector unless a derivatization procedure is used. A slight adjustment to the standard GC–MS method—shortening the solvent delay window—enables detection of an additional early chromatographic peak from the degradation, allowing distinction between 25I-NBOH and 2C-I without derivatization and preventing misidentification.
NBOMe derivatives are phenethylamines related to the 2C class of hallucinogens. Few human pharmacologic studies exist, but several intoxication cases and deaths have been reported. These compounds are not part of routine drug screening for many police forces, and no rapid immunoassay tests can detect them. For the first time, the voltammetric behavior of 25B-NBOMe and 25I-NBOMe was investigated, and their electroanalytical characteristics were determined. A novel, fast, and sensitive screening method was developed to identify these two most common NBOMes in real samples. The method uses electrochemical oxidation to produce an analytical signal related to concentration, with an average lower limit of quantitation of 0.01 mg/mL for both. It is selective enough to identify each compound individually despite their structural similarity.