Like many countries, Germany has had to contend with the rise of designer drugs or new psychoactive substances (NPS) since the emergence of ‘Spice’ in 2008. The suppliers of these drugs exploit loopholes in the law that mean that newly emerging compounds that have not yet been identified and scheduled by the authorities are not illegal. This is despite many of these closely mimicking the structure and effects of existing drugs.
The adverse consequences of NPS can be severe and include death. Worryingly, they are thought to be particularly attractive to inexperienced drug users due to their “legal” status.
因此，像德国这样的许多国家都引入了新的立法，以专门处理可以将物质归类为非法的NP，即使当局尚未确定它们。一些国家，例如英国和爱尔兰，已经采用了通过其精神活性对物质进行分类的方法。德国以及克罗地亚和土耳其等国家都选择根据其结构特征对物质进行分类。
TechnischeUniversitätBraunschweig（Ernst et al.2019）的研究人员的最新研究使用NMR来表征在线购买的药物样本中新近描述的NPS。
The team obtained 15 ‘spice-like’ herbal mixtures from four German-language online stores. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry identified three separate active ingredients from the samples, two of which were already known. However, 12 out of the 15 samples contained a compound not previously described. They subjected this substance, 5F-Cumyl-PeGaClone, to further interrogation using a range of techniques including NMR.
该团队使用配备TCI三重共振的“逆”探针的Bruker Avance光谱仪分析新鉴定的化合物。数据表明，5F-柠檬基 - 甲基酮与先前描述的cumyl-pegaclone密切相关，仅存在较小的结构差异。它在结构上也类似于5F-ADB，该5F-ADB最近计划根据德国的主要麻醉法，仅出现在在线获得的15个样本之一。
但是，根据NPS特定的法律，尚未列出5F-兼5F-PEGACLONE和5F-ADB的结构元素，这意味着新化合物的分销商成功地利用了一个漏洞，这意味着这种新化合物尚未涵盖。any of the country’s legislation.
The researchers say the results emphasize the health risks posed by NPS.
“正如多年来观察到的那样，这些产品的消费者仍然存在很高的健康风险，”该团队写道法医学国际。他们指出，尽管与最初的2008年产品完全不同，但至少有一个样品被标记为“香料”。
“This again, increases the health risk of the end-user in terms of expected effects based on earlier experiences and unforeseen effects because of the unawareness of a new active ingredient at an unknown concentration.”
他们指出，样品中包含各种效力，范围为17至76 mg/g，没有迹象表明对用户包装的这种变化。但是，为了表明NPS的问题不太可能很快消失，数据还证明了分销此类产品的业务如何有利可图，这可能提供高达42倍的投资回报。
作为结论,unambiguo核磁共振是一个关键的方法usly identifying and quantifying unknown substances such as newly emerged NPS. In alignment with Bruker’s vision of interconnected forensic laboratories using floor standing AVANCE NEO NMR spectrometers at scientific hubs and benchtop FOURIER 80 spectrometers at local laboratories, law enforcement authorities can be enabled to effectively fight this threat. The extraordinary synergies in using the very same industry standard NMR software TOPSPIN on both classes of NMR spectrometers opens the door to remotely exchanged data, experience and knowledge. The application of NMR is further decomplexified by the usage of the configurable push-button, non-expert software interface GO-SCAN on Bruker’s benchtop models. This unique feature creates a distributed laboratory topology enabling NMR anywhere and so effectively fights the spread of NPS at the outmost. Bruker cooperates in this sense with leading law enforcement authorities worldwide to protect populations by breaking this trend.
References
- Halter S，Haschimi B，Mogler L等。立法对德国NPS市场的影响 - 5F-ADB的兴衰。药物测试与分析2020；doi：10.1002/dta.2786。
- Kraemer M，Boehmer A，Madea B等。涉及某些新的精神活性物质的死亡病例：文献综述。法医学国际2019年；298：186-267。doi：10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.02.021。
- Ernst L，Langer N，Bockelmann A等。在“香料般”草药混合物中鉴定和量化合成大麻素：2018年夏季德国局势的更新。国际福音科学国际；294：96-102。doi：10.1016/j.forsciint.2018.11.001。
