NPS evolution of a phenomenon Prof Dr Jan
- Slides: 43
NPS: evolution of a phenomenon Prof. Dr. Jan TYTGAT Toxicology & Pharmacology University of Leuven (KU Leuven) Belgium Moscow Research and Practical Centre on Addictions Moscow, Russian Federation, 11 -12 July 2017
Greek mythology • Hephaestus, God of Fire, creates Pandora, the 1 st woman. • Zeus, Upper God, decides to give Pandora true life and marry Epimetheus. • The couple receives the box of… Pandora. • Not be opened, but Pandora cannot resist. • Misfortune, setback, pain and evil happen. • But… as last feature also hope turns up!
Source: EMCDDA 2017
Source: EMCDDA Synthetic cannabinoids
Pre-precursors: what type of chemicals? Purpose of their use Location of their use Timeline of their use (trends) Recognizability and Risks Occurrence: general and specific
Purpose of their use 1. Reagents: methylamine, formamide, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, acetic anhydride, sodium borohydride, hydrogen, argon, bromine, … 2. Solvents: acetone, ether, benzene, toluene, alcohol, methyl-ethyl ketone, tetra-hydrofuran, hexamethylphosphoramide, glycerol, … 3. Catalysts: platinum dioxide, Raney-nickel, palladium, Al-amalgam, … 4. Drug-specific chemicals: methanol, acetone, ether, formic acid, sodium hydroxide, …
Location of their use 1. Synthesis labs: speed, MDMA, NPS, … 2. Kitchen labs: GBL GHB, … 3. Extraction labs: cocaine, … 4. Conversion labs type 1: pre-precursor precursor: APAAN to BMK precursor NPS: 2 C-B to 25 B-NBOMe 5. Conversion labs type 2: medicine NPS pseudo-ephedrine to methamphetamine; fentanyl to NPS benzodiazepine to NPS (trendy!) 6. Biotech labs: growth media
Timeline of their use (trends) 1. Historical: classical chemicals 2. Under the radar: oils/plants & solvents 3. Newest biological substances: growth media
Recognizability and Risks Inflammable Toxic Corrosive
Inflammable Natural gas, propane/butane gas Hydrogen gas (H 2), Bromine (Br 2), … Solvents: acetone, ether, methanol, isopropylalcohol
Corrosive Hydrochloric acid (HCl) Sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4) Sodium hydroxide (Na. OH)
Inflammable and Corrosive Methylamine Formaldehyde Formic acid
Self inflammable
Occurrence: general and specific Historical: classical chemicals
Source: Precursors (2013) www. incb. org
Source: Precursors (2013) www. incb. org
Source: Precursors (2013) www. incb. org
Source: Precursors (2013) www. incb. org
Under the radar: oils/plants & solvents
AMPHETAMINES derived from natural sources most commonly from essential oils: - MDA/MDMA from “Sassafras oil” - PMA/PMMA from Anise oil - TMA-2 from Calamus oil - DMMDA, MMDA from Parsley oil - DMMDA-2 from Indian dill oil
Organic Syntheses, Coll. Vol. 6, p. 64 (1988); Vol. 54, p. 42 (1974) o-Anisaldehyde (2 -methoxy-benzaldehyde): precursor for NBOMe series
from plant extract from vanillin from pyrogallol Syringaldehyde: precursor for mescaline series
Chemical route GBL Na. OH GHB
Newest Biological Substances: yeast and growth media
August, 2015
Growth media: trendy!
Growth media: trendy!
Questions? Thanks for your attention!