Identification and quantification of adulterants of psychoactive substances

Abstract

The increased consumption of psychoactive substances and the appearance of new substances (Legal Highs) represent an interesting social topic for authorities such as the NGO Cruz Roja Joventut and some research centers such as the UB. The innovation and lack of knowledge is a problem when facing the challenge of identifying and quantifying psychoactive substances. For this reason, it is a very attractive topic for analytical studies. In this final project work, a database of psychoactive substances has been created in order to accelerate the process of identification of these substances in samples obtained from consumers. Databases are essential tools for the identification and confirmation of compounds as they provide quick and accurate information about the m/z of the substances, their possible fragmentation and working mode, as well as many other properties. The created database contains 164 psychoactive substances with the corresponding parameters for their study by FIA-MS. This allowed the identification of substances in spite of the lack of standards...