[Analysis of the chemical drugs among structural isomer].

In Japan, certain tryptamine and phenethylamine derivatives were classified as narcotics in 2005 and 2006. Researchers analyzed these substances using TLC, IR, GC-MS, and HPLC to distinguish structural isomers. 5MeO-DIPT and 5MeO-DPT could be differentiated by TLC and HPLC but not by IR or GC-MS. 4HO-MIPT and 4HO-DET could not be distinguished by any method, and the isomer 4HO-MPT was not detected. The authors conclude that NMR data is essential for distinguishing such compounds.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Drugs that have a pharmacological effect similar to legal drugs such as narcotics and stimulants are available in the market and widely used. 5-methoxy-N,N-di-iso-propyl-tryptamine (5MeO-DIPT) and alpha-methyl-tryptamine (AMT) were categorized as narcotics and were specified as legal drugs in April 2005, and also 2,5-dimethoxy-4-n-propylthiophenethylamine (4C-T-7) and N-methyl-alpha-ethyl-3,4-methylenedioxy-phenethylamine (MBDB) were categorized as narcotics and were specified as legal drugs in April 2006, in Japan. We are analyzing these chemical drugs by investigating the market research. It is recognized that during the analysis of chemical drugs, drugs that resemble a structural isomer of a target substance, such as 5MeO-DIPT and 5-methoxy-N,N-di-n-propyl-tryptamine (5MeO-DPT) or 4C-T-7 and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iso-propylthiophenethylamine (4C-T-4), should be distinguished. The results of TLC, IR, GC-MS and HPLC analyses were compared. 5MeO-DIPT and 5MeO-DPT could be distinguished by TLC and HPLC analyses, but not by IR and GC-MS analysis. The drugs 4-hydroxy-N-methyl-N-iso-propyl-tryptamine (4HO-MIPT) and 4-hydroxy-N,N-di-ethyl-tryptamine (4HO-DET) or could not be distinguished. Moreover, the isomers of 4-hydroxy-N-methyl-N-n-propyl-tryptamine (4HO-MPT) was not found to be present. Thus, we have demonstrated that the chemical drug could be distinguished from each other, and we have also shown that NMR data is essential for the analysis.