European Commission | Identification and analytical characterization of a novel synthetic cannabinoid-type substance in herbal material in Europe | EU Science Hub

The rapid diffusion of new psychoactive substances (NPS) presents unprecedented chal-lenges to both customs authorities and analytical laboratories involved in their detection andcharacterization. In this study an analytical approach to the identification and structural eluci-dation of a novel synthetic cannabimimetic, quinolin-8-yl-3-[(4,4-difluoropiperidin-1-yl) sulfonyl]-4-methylbenzoate (2F-QMPSB), detected in seized herbal material, is detailed. An acid precursor4-methyl-3-(4,4-difluoro-1-piperidinylsulfonyl) benzoic acid (2F-MPSBA), has also been identified inthe same seized material. After extraction from the herbal material the synthetic cannabimimetic, alsoreferred to as synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists or “synthetic cannabinoids”, was characterizedusing gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS),1H,13C,19F and15N nuclear magneticresonance (NMR) and high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HR-MS/MS) combined withchromatographic separation. A cheminformatics platform was used to manage and interpret theanalytical data from these techniques.

CONTINUE READING ON ec.europa.eu