A Sustainable Microextraction of Hallucinogenic New Psychoactive Substances for Clinical and Forensic Applications
Applied Sciences December 8, 2025 E. Kostić, A. Catić-Đorđević, Ivana Nešić et al.
A sustainable microextraction method using hydrophobic natural deep eutectic solvents (NADESs) was developed to extract four synthetic hallucinogenic phenethylamines (2C-B, 25B-NBOMe, 25C-NBOMe, and 25I-NBOMe) from urine samples. Among nine NADESs tested, a 1:1 molar ratio of menthol and decanoic acid provided the best extraction efficiency. Optimal conditions—pH 12, vortex time 20 seconds, vortex speed 30,000 rpm, and centrifugation at 14,000 rpm for 3 minutes—yielded the highest recoveries. The method's greenness and sustainability, evaluated with several tools, showed advantages over existing approaches, making it suitable for clinical and forensic toxicology.