Pursuing drug laboratories

Analysis of drug precursors with High Kinetic Energy Ion Mobility Spectrometry

verfasst von

Christoph Schaefer, Martin Lippmann, Clara Schindler, Michiel Beukers, Niels Beijer, Moritz Hitzemann, Ben van de Kamp, Ruud Peters, Jaap Knotter, Stefan Zimmermann

Abstract

High Kinetic Energy Ion Mobility Spectrometry (HiKE-IMS) is a technique for rapid and reliable detection of trace compounds down to ppb_V-levels within one second. Compared to classical IMS operating at ambient pressure and providing the ion mobility at low electric fields, HiKE-IMS can also provide the analyte-specific field dependence of the ion mobility and a fragmentation pattern at high reduced electric field strengths. The additional information about the analyte obtained by varying the reduced electric field strength can contribute to reliable detection. Furthermore, the reduced number of ion-molecule reactions at the low operating pressure of 10 – 40 mbar and the shorter reaction times reduce the impact of competing ion-molecule reactions that can cause false negatives. In this work, we employ HiKE-IMS for the analysis of phenyl-2-propanone (P2P) and other precursor chemicals used for synthesis of methamphetamine and amphetamine. The results show that the precursor chemicals exhibit different behavior in HiKE-IMS. Some precursors form a single significant ion species, while others readily form a fragmentation pattern. Nevertheless, all drug precursors can be distinguished from each other, from the reactant ions and from interfering compounds. In particular, the field-dependent ion mobility as an additional separation dimension aids identification, potentially reducing the number of false positive alarms in field applications. Furthermore, the analysis of a seized illicit P2P sample shows that even low levels of P2P can be detected despite the complex background present in the headspace of real samples.

Organisationseinheit(en)

Institut für Grundlagen der Elektrotechnik und Messtechnik

Externe Organisation(en)

Saxion University of Applied Sciences
Police Academy of The Netherlands

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Forensic science international

Band

363

Anzahl der Seiten

10

ISSN

0379-0738

Publikationsdatum

10.2024

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Pathologie und Forensische Medizin

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

SDG 3 – Gute Gesundheit und Wohlergehen

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2024.112196 (Zugang: Offen)