PMID- 23861339
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20131024
LR  - 20151119
IS  - 1945-2403 (Electronic)
IS  - 0146-4760 (Linking)
VI  - 37
IP  - 7
DP  - 2013 Sep
TI  - Stability of 3,4-methylenedioxymethampetamine (MDMA), 4-methylmethcathinone 
      (mephedrone) and 3-trifluromethylphenylpiperazine (3-TFMPP) in formalin solution.
PG  - 440-6
LID - 10.1093/jat/bkt051 [doi]
AB  - Occasionally, the only postmortem samples available for analysis are contaminated 
      with formaldehyde, either due to embalming prior to sampling or because analysis 
      is carried out only when formalin-fixed tissues retained for histological study 
      are available. Formaldehyde reacts with several drugs of forensic interest that 
      contain either a primary or a secondary amine group to form their N-methyl 
      derivatives. We investigated the stability of 3,4-methylenedioxymethampetamine 
      (MDMA), 4-methylmethcathinone (mephedrone) and 3-trifluromethylphenylpiperazine 
      (3-TFMPP) in formalin solutions using three different formaldehyde concentrations 
      (5, 10 and 20%) and three different pHs (3.0, 7.0 and 9.5). Analysis was 
      performed using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection 
      to determine the percentage degradation of each drug over time, up to 60 days. 
      MDMA, mephedrone and 3-TFMPP are unstable in formalin solutions, with the 
      degradation rate increasing with increasing pH. After 28 days in 20% formalin, pH 
      9.5, there remained 57% of the initial 3-TFMPP concentration, 11% of the initial 
      MDMA concentration and 4% of the initial mephedrone concentration. Forensic 
      toxicologists should be aware that, when analyzing for these drugs in an embalmed 
      body or in tissues stored in formalin solutions, the methylated form of the 
      secondary amine-containing drug could be a more useful analyte than the parent 
      drug.
FAU - Maskell, Peter D
AU  - Maskell PD
AD  - Centre for Forensic and Legal Medicine, University of Dundee, UK. 
      p.d.maskell@dundee.ac.uk
FAU - Seetohul, L Nitin
AU  - Seetohul LN
FAU - Livingstone, Alison C
AU  - Livingstone AC
FAU - Cockburn, Alexandra K
AU  - Cockburn AK
FAU - Preece, Jamie
AU  - Preece J
FAU - Pounder, Derrick J
AU  - Pounder DJ
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20130716
PL  - England
TA  - J Anal Toxicol
JT  - Journal of analytical toxicology
JID - 7705085
RN  - 0 (Designer Drugs)
RN  - 0 (Hallucinogens)
RN  - 0 (Indicators and Reagents)
RN  - 0 (Piperazines)
RN  - 0 (Serotonin Receptor Agonists)
RN  - 0 (Solutions)
RN  - 1HG84L3525 (Formaldehyde)
RN  - 25R3ONU51C (1-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)piperazine)
RN  - 44RAL3456C (Methamphetamine)
RN  - 8BA8T27317 (mephedrone)
RN  - KE1SEN21RM (N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine)
SB  - IM
MH  - Calibration
MH  - Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
MH  - Designer Drugs/*chemistry
MH  - Drug Stability
MH  - Formaldehyde/*chemistry
MH  - Hallucinogens/*chemistry
MH  - Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
MH  - Indicators and Reagents
MH  - Mass Spectrometry
MH  - Methamphetamine/*analogs & derivatives/chemistry
MH  - Methylation
MH  - N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/*chemistry
MH  - Piperazines/*chemistry
MH  - Quality Control
MH  - Reference Standards
MH  - Reproducibility of Results
MH  - Serotonin Receptor Agonists/*chemistry
MH  - Solutions
EDAT- 2013/07/19 06:00
MHDA- 2013/10/25 06:00
CRDT- 2013/07/18 06:00
PHST- 2013/07/18 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2013/07/19 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2013/10/25 06:00 [medline]
AID - bkt051 [pii]
AID - 10.1093/jat/bkt051 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Anal Toxicol. 2013 Sep;37(7):440-6. doi: 10.1093/jat/bkt051. Epub 2013 Jul 16.