Portable Raman Spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry Techniques for the Analysis of Seized Drug

Monday, March 08, 2021: 8:30 AM - 6:00 PM

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Description

Many laboratories have backlogs in drug chemistry and rely on subjective color tests for preliminary screening in their case workflow, but color tests are time consuming and require sample handling. Raman spectroscopy and mass spectrometry are established methods for compound identification. Portable instrumentation has increased in popularity for field use to provide results quickly with little to no sample preparation. A panel of 15 diluents and 15 commonly reported controlled substances were evaluated using the TacticID GP Plus portable Raman in various mixtures. Direct Analysis in Real Time-Mass Spectrometry (DART-MS) was used as an additional tool to analyze mixtures. The TacticID was validated by assessing the Hit-Quality-Index (HQI) of diluents and evaluating the effect of packaging types, 15 mm glass vials and 2 Mil plastic bags, on the HQI with the laser power at 60% and 90%. Reproducibility and repeatability between three operators was studied using one-way analysis of variance. Accuracy was calculated through triplicate analysis of the compounds through glass and plastic. Drug:diluent and diluent:diluent mixtures were prepared at various ratios. Accuracy was reported when compared to the instrument’s library and an in-house library. Selected mixtures were also analyzed using AccuTOF-DART. HQI for diluents analyzed through plastic was >90% at both 60% and 90% power between three operators. HQI values through glass were more variable at 86-99%. Between and within-operator precision was ≤2.0%. Through glass, the accuracy of the TacticID instrument was 91% and precision 90%; and through plastic the accuracy was 89% and precision 88%. Implementation of the TacticID portable Raman in the field can give operators a quick idea of substances they encounter without having to open packages. Furthermore, the TacticID supports use of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and AccuTOF-DART allows for analysis of powders or liquids without sample pretreatment.

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Additional Info

Keywords: Please select up to 4 keywords ONLY:
Ionization Techniques,Raman/Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy,Spectroscopy