Fast and simple procedure for preliminary investigation of synthetic cannabinoids in plant matrix using infrared attenuated total refl ectance spectroscopy

Abstract

Application of different solvents (acetone, chloroform, methanol and n-hexane) for the extraction of target compounds, i.e., new psychoactive compounds from herbal material and subsequent infrared attenuated total reflectance (ATR) spectroscopic analysis of evaporative residues of extracts were studied. The acetone could be stated to be the most suitable solvent, because it has good selectivity and dissolving power for the target compounds being present in the given matrices and can easily be evaporated from the surface of the ATR diamond, assuring a simple and fast sample preparation. The applicability of the elaborated procedure is demonstrated via analysis of real samples and has been found useful for the analysis of herbal mixtures containing AKB48, AB-PINACA, AB-FUBINACA, PB-22, AB-CHMINACA, 5F-PB-22, AM-2201.