ChemRxiv
June 9, 2026
Matthew Gardner, Alexander Power, Anca Frinculescu et al.
High-dose MDMA tablets and variable-purity cocaine and ketamine samples are commonly encountered by drug checking services and police forces in the United Kingdom and Europe. At the time of writing, there are few simpleto-operate field-portable technologies that provide semi-quantitative information on MDMA tablet dosage or cocaine and ketamine purity at the point of sampling. We previously...
Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis
June 15, 2025
Melvin R Euerby, Benjamin S Barrett, Andrew Costello et al.
This study describes a simple and practical HPLC analysis for the direct enantiomeric separation of a range of 32 novel diphenidine derived psychoactive substances using a range of six polysaccharide-based chiral stationary phases employing a single generic polar organic solvent chromatographic mobile phase. Temperature was employed to optimize the chemo and enantiomeric selectivity. Baseline...
Acta crystallographica. Section E, Crystallographic communications
March 1, 2025
Ryan E Mewis, Matthew C Hulme, Jack Marron et al.
Diphenidine (1a), a dissociative anaesthetic, was first reported in 2013. Since then, a number of derivatives e.g. 2-methoxphenidine (1b) have been produced by clandestine laboratories and sold as research chemicals. Fluorinated diphenidines, namely, [1-(2,6-di-fluoro-phen-yl)-2-phenyl-eth-yl]di-methyl-aza-nium chloride, C16H18F2N+·Cl-, (I),...
Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis
July 15, 2022
Graeme Cochrane, Jennifer K Field, Matthew C Hulme et al.
9 citations
Supercritical Fluid Chromatography (SFC-UV) employing a carbon dioxide (CO2) and 10 mM ammonium acetate in MeOH-water (95:5 v/v) gradient provides a rapid analysis (tG <10 min) of 31 novel, regioisomeric diphenidine-derived psychoactive substances, on a range of stationary phases of differing polarity. Medium to large selectivity differences between regioisomers, were observed on the acidic,...
Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis
July 15, 2022
Jennifer K Field, Christine Hinz, Christopher M Titman et al.
4 citations
This study describes the first reported development of a rapid, generic gradient Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC) methodology with targeted triple quadrupole MS/MS using electrospray positive ionisation to detect and unambiguously confirm the identity of 33 substituted 1, 2-diarylethamine (or diphenidine) derivatives in solid drug samples. The in-house synthesised library...
ACS Omega
August 29, 2019
H. Elbardisy, Christopher W. Foster, Jack Marron et al.
The emergence of a new class of novel psychoactive substances, N-benzyl-substituted phenethylamine derivatives so-called “NBOMes” or “Smiles”, in the recreational drug market has forced the development of new sensitive analytical methodologies for their detection and quantitation. NBOMes’ hallucinogenic effects mimic those of the illegal psychedelic drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and are...
In Analysis
April 30, 2018
Joseph W. Lowdon, S. M. O. Alkirkit, Ryan E Mewis et al.
In this communication, we present the first developed Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) for the specific detection of a New Psychoactive Substance (NPS); namely, methoxphenidine (MXP) and its regioisomers. Selectivity of the MIP towards MXP is studied by analysing mixtures and an acquired street sample with High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to UV detection. The study...
Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry
November 1, 2016
Pierre M Geyer, Matthew C Hulme, Joseph P B Irving et al.
The prevalence of new psychoactive substances (NPSs) in forensic casework has increased prominently in recent years. This has given rise to significant legal and analytical challenges in the identification of these substances. The requirement for validated, robust and rapid testing methodologies for these compounds is obvious. This study details the analysis of 13 synthesised diphenidine...