Centro de Investigación en Electroquímica y Energía Química (CELEQ), Universidad de Costa Rica, San José 11501-2060, Costa Rica.
Escuela de Química, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José 11501-2060, Costa Rica.
Sensors (Basel). 2021 Dec 31;22(1):295. doi: 10.3390/s22010295.
The synthetic cathinones mephedrone (4-MMC) and 4-methylethcathinone (4-MEC) are two designer drugs that represent the rise and fall effect of this drug category within the stimulants market and are still available in several countries around the world. As a result, the qualitative and quantitative determination of 'legal highs', and their mixtures, are of great interest. This work explores for the first time the spectroelectrochemical response of these substances by coupling cyclic voltammetry (CV) with Raman spectroscopy in a portable instrument. It was found that the stimulants exhibit a voltammetric response on a gold screen-printed electrode while the surface is simultaneously electro-activated to achieve a periodic surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrate with high reproducibility. The proposed method enables a rapid and reliable determination in which both substances can be selectively analyzed through the oxidation waves of the molecules and the characteristic bands of the electrochemical SERS (EC-SERS) spectra. The feasibility and applicability of the method were assessed in simulated seized drug samples and spiked synthetic urine. This time-resolved spectroelectrochemical technique provides a cost-effective and user-friendly tool for onsite screening of synthetic stimulants in matrices with low concentration analytes for forensic applications.
合成卡西酮类药物 4-甲基甲卡西酮(4-MEC)和甲卡西酮(Mephedrone)是两种具有代表性的设计药物,它们体现了该类兴奋剂在市场上的兴衰,并在世界上的一些国家仍然存在。因此,对“合法兴奋剂”及其混合物进行定性和定量测定具有重要意义。本工作首次通过将循环伏安法(CV)与便携式仪器中的拉曼光谱相结合,探索了这些物质的光谱电化学响应。结果表明,这些兴奋剂在金丝网印刷电极上表现出伏安响应,同时对表面进行电激活,以实现具有高重现性的周期性表面增强拉曼光谱(SERS)基底。该方法可实现快速可靠的测定,通过分子的氧化波和电化学 SERS(EC-SERS)光谱的特征谱带可以选择性地分析两种物质。该方法在模拟缴获的毒品样品和加标合成尿液中的可行性和适用性进行了评估。这种时间分辨光谱电化学技术为现场筛查低浓度分析物的基质中的合成兴奋剂提供了一种具有成本效益且易于使用的工具,可用于法医应用。