Stable isotope characterisation of 3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl-2-propanone and 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine prepared from piperonal.
Stable isotopic ratios can provide information for illicit drug profiling. The research presented here investigated the variations in stable isotopic ratios of hydrogen (δ Samples of MDA and MDP2P were synthesised from two isotopically characterised starting materials, piperonal and nitroethane. The isotopic compositions of the nitrostyrene intermediate (3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl-2-nitropropene, MDP2NP) and products MDP2P and MDA were also measured by isotope ratio mass spectrometry. A significantly negative change occurred to δ The changes to stable isotopic ratios observed during the preparation of MDA and MDP2P from piperonal may prove useful when attempting to compare batch-to-batch variations between seizures and provide information with tactical intelligence applications.