Abstract
The recent global increase in the abuse of 4'-methylmethcathinone (mephedrone) and related compounds has developed a requirement for full chemical characterisation of these products. This work presents full synthetic and chemical characterisation data for the hydrobromide salts of two mephedrone derivatives: 4'-methyl-N-ethylcathinone (4-MEC) and 4'-methyl-N-benzylcathinone (4-MBC) which have been identified in samples of the " legal high" NRG-2. The first fully validated chromatographic methods for the detection and quantitative analysis of these substances both in their pure form and in the presence of a number of common adulterants used in illicit drug manufacture is also reported.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 122-135 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis |
Volume | 61 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 5 Mar 2012 |