Identification and Analytical Characterization of a Novel Synthetic Cannabinoid-Type Substance in Herbal Material in Europe

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 26; no. 4; p. 793
• Main Authors: Tsochatzis, Emmanouil D, Alberto Lopes, Joao, Holland, Margaret V, Reniero, Fabiano, Palmieri, Giovanni, Guillou, Claude
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 03.02.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: 2F-QMPSB; Acids; Benzoic acid; Cannabinoid receptors; Cannabinoids - analysis; Cannabinoids - chemical synthesis; Cannabinoids - chemistry; cheminformatics; Chromatography; Customs; Europe; Gas chromatography; GC-MS; HR-MS/MS; Identification; Illicit Drugs - analysis; Illicit Drugs - chemical synthesis; Illicit Drugs - chemistry; Informatics; Laboratories; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; Scientific imaging; Seizing; Spectroscopy; synthetic cannabinoids; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Europe; GC-MS; 2F-QMPSB; NMR; HR-MS/MS; cheminformatics; synthetic cannabinoids
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules26040793

The rapid diffusion of new psychoactive substances (NPS) presents unprecedented challenges to both customs authorities and analytical laboratories involved in their detection and characterization. In this study an analytical approach to the identification and structural elucidation 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 precursor 4-methyl-3-(4,4-difluoro-1-piperidinylsulfonyl) benzoic acid (2F-MPSBA), has also been identified in the same seized material. After extraction from the herbal material the synthetic cannabimimetic, also referred to as synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists or "synthetic cannabinoids", was characterized using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), H, C, F and N nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HR-MS/MS) combined with chromatographic separation. A cheminformatics platform was used to manage and interpret the analytical data from these techniques.