Absolute Confirmation of the Isomers of MDMA by GC.IRD

by Charles C. Johnson, ASAP LLC, KY, Kevin Kramer, OSBI, OK, and John A. Meyers, US DOJ DEA (retired), IL

Identification of individual isomers of synthetic drugs of abuse, particularly phenethylamines, can be problematic by conventional GC.MSD methods. One of these phenethylamines, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (3,4-MDMA), commonly known as “Ecstasy”, has been the subject of substantial research because of its ten isomers. These isomers are difficult to fully separate and provide minimal mass fragmentation detail. Several instrumental studies have been published in an attempt to improve the confidence level of discerning 3,4-MDMA from its isomers, but all continue to rely heavily on increasingly expensive techniques to resolve this dilemma.

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