Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 24 No 2 (2020): 276 - 287

 

 

 

 

SOURCE DETERMINATION OF PSEUDOEPHEDRINE USING ATTENUATED TOTAL REFLECTANCE FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY COMBINED WITH CHEMOMETRIC ANALYSIS

 

(Penentuan Sumber Pseudoephederin Menggunakan Spektroskopi Atenuasi Pembalikan Transformasi Fourier Digabungkan Dengan Analisis Kemometrik)

 

Ainol Hayah Ahmad Nadzri¹, Saravana Kumar Jayaram², Puteri Nurul Hassanah Anuar¹, Noor Zuhartini Md Muslim¹, Dzulkiflee Ismail¹, Wan Nur Syuhaila Mat Desa¹*

 

¹Forensic Science Programme, School of Health Sciences,

Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia

² Narcotic Section, Forensic Science Unit,

Chemistry Department, Jalan Sultan 46661 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

 

*Corresponding author:  wannurs@usm.my

 

 

Received: 20 November 2019; Accepted: 27 March 2020

 

 

Abstract

Seizures of pseudoephedrine compound pertaining to clandestine drug laboratories were widely reported since it is abused for illicit amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) production. In small scale clandestine laboratory, a commercial decongestant tablet is always encountered despite having properties claimed to deter pseudoephedrine extraction as pharmaceutical means to prevent the misuse of the compound. This study aims to investigate the feasibility of discriminating extracted pseudoephedrine powder based on its origin. In this study, five different types in varying strengths and sizes of pseudoephedrine-based tablets samples were extracted with direct and acid-base extraction methods. Identification of extracted pseudoephedrine was done by simple attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). In total, 90 spectra were obtained from 15 batches of samples at six repetitive scans. Spectral selection on characteristic fingerprint regions was performed and subsequently subjected to hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA). In HCA, discrimination among samples was evident at around 77-86% similarity while in PCA, discrimination is presented at 80-93% total variation. Groupings and linkages based on their origin were established. A simple and direct method for identification and source determination of chemically processed pseudoephedrine compounds is demonstrated. This information can be a valuable intelligent tool for forensics and law enforcers to understand precursor material sources hence would be beneficial to disrupt the supply of the compound intended for clandestine operations.

 

Keywords:  pseudoephedrine, clandestine drug laboratory, forensic intelligence

 

Abstrak

Rampasan sebatian pseudoephedrin daripada makmal dadah haram semakin meluas dilaporkan kerana sebatian tersebut telah disalahgunakan dalam menghasilkan dadah perangsang jenis amfetamin (ATS). Dalam makmal dadah haram berskala kecil, pil dekongestan komersial yang mengandungi pseudoephedrin sering ditemui sebagai bahan prekursor alternatif walaupun formulasinya telah diubahsuai untuk menghalang proses pengekstrakan pseudoephedrin dan seterusnya mencegah daripada penyalahgunaan sebatian tersebut. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menyiasat kebolehlaksanaan untuk mendiskriminasi serbuk pseudoephedrin yang diekstrak berdasarkan kepada sumbernya. Dalam kajian ini, lima jenis tablet yang mengandungi pseudoephedrin dengan pelbagai saiz dan kekuatan telah diekstrak melalui kaedah pengekstrakan secara langsung dan asid-bes. Pengenalpastian sebatian pseudoephedrin yang diekstrak telah dilakukan melalui spektroskopi atenuasi pembalikan dan transformasi Fourier (ATR-FTIR). Secara keseluruhan, 90 spektra telah diperolehi daripada 15 kelompok sampel pada enam imbasan berulang. Pengujian spektra pada kawasan tertentu telah dilakukan dan spektra daripada kawasan terpilih kemudiannya tertakluk kepada analisis kluster hierarki (HCA) dan analisis komponen prinsipal (PCA). Dalam HCA, diskriminasi di antara sampel telah dibuktikan pada sekitar 77-86% persamaan manakala di PCA, diskriminasi dibentangkan pada 80-93% jumlah variasi. Kajian ini menunjukkan penggunaan kaedah secara langsung dan mudah dalam pengenalpastian dan penentuan asal-usul sebatian pseudoephedrin yang telah diproses secara kimia. Maklumat yang diperolehi melalui kajian ini adalah sangat bernilai sebagai alat perisikan kepada penguasa perundangan dan forensik untuk memahami sumber bahan prekursor dengan itu dapat memberi manfaat dalam mengganggu bekalan pseudoephedrine untuk operasi haram.

 

Kata kunci:  pseudoephedrine, makmal dadah haram, perisikan forensik

 

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