Mora Andrea C, Vara Madeline, Reust Patrick, Code Amanda, Oliver Piercen, Mace Charles R
Department of Chemistry, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States.
Clear Scientific Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, United States.
ACS Sens. 2024 Jun 28;9(6):3198-3204. doi: 10.1021/acssensors.4c00517. Epub 2024 May 22.
Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid with an alarmingly low lethal dosage of 2 mg. The equipment necessary to detect fentanyl in field settings (e.g., hand-held spectrometers) is restricted to highly trained, well-funded, and specialized personnel. Established point-of-need technologies, such as lateral flow immunochromatographic strips, are available; however, they often involve multiple contact-based steps (e.g., collection, mixing) that pose a higher risk to users handling unknown substances. Herein, we developed a colorimetric displacement assay capable of contactless detection of fentanyl in liquid or solid samples. The basis of our assay relies on the presence of fentanyl to displace a redox mediator, ferrocene carboxylic acid, inclusively bound in the cavity of a supramolecular host, CB[7]. The displacement is only possible in the presence of high affinity binding guests, like fentanyl ( ∼ 10 M). The liberated redox guest can then react with indicator reagents that are free in solution, producing either: (i) a distinct blue color to indicate the presence of fentanyl or (ii) a pale blue tint in the absence of fentanyl. We demonstrate rapid and specific detection of fentanyl free base and fentanyl derivatives (e.g., acetyl fentanyl and furanyl fentanyl) against a panel of 9 other common drugs of abuse (e.g., morphine, cocaine, and heroin). Furthermore, we highlight the intended use of this assay by testing grains of fentanyl derivatives on a surface with a drop (i.e., 25 μL) of the assay reagent. We anticipate that this approach can be applied broadly to identify the presence of fentanyl at the point of need.
芬太尼是一种强效合成阿片类药物，其致死剂量低至2毫克，令人担忧。在现场环境中检测芬太尼所需的设备（如手持式光谱仪）仅限于训练有素、资金充足的专业人员使用。现有的即时检测技术，如侧向流动免疫色谱试纸条是可用的；然而，它们通常涉及多个基于接触的步骤（如收集、混合），这对处理未知物质的使用者构成了更高的风险。在此，我们开发了一种比色位移分析法，能够对液体或固体样品中的芬太尼进行非接触式检测。我们的分析方法基于芬太尼的存在会取代一种氧化还原介质——二茂铁羧酸，该介质包含性地结合在超分子主体环糊精[7]（CB[7]）的空腔中。只有在存在高亲和力结合客体（如芬太尼，~10 M）时才会发生这种取代。然后，释放出的氧化还原客体可以与溶液中游离的指示剂试剂发生反应，产生以下两种情况之一：（i）产生明显的蓝色以表明芬太尼的存在；（ii）在不存在芬太尼时产生浅蓝色色调。我们展示了针对9种其他常见滥用药物（如吗啡、可卡因和海洛因）对芬太尼游离碱和芬太尼衍生物（如乙酰芬太尼和呋喃基芬太尼）进行快速、特异性检测。此外，我们通过在含有一滴（即25 μL）分析试剂的表面上测试芬太尼衍生物颗粒，突出了该分析方法的预期用途。我们预计这种方法可以广泛应用于在需要时识别芬太尼的存在。
