Crystal structure of a host-guest complex between mephedrone hydro-chloride and a tetra-phospho-nate cavitand

A new supra-molecular complex (I) between the tetra-phospho-nate cavitand Tiiii[C3H7,CH3,C6H5] [systematic name: 2,8,14,20-tetra-propyl-5,11,17,23-tetra-methyl-6,10:12,16:18,22:24,4-tetra-kis-(phenyl-phospho-nato-O,O')resorcin[4]arene] and mephedrone hydro-choride {C11H16NO+·Cl-; systematic name: meth-yl[1-(4-methyl-phen-yl)-1-oxopropan-2-yl]aza-nium chloride} has been obtained and characterized both in solution and in the solid state. The complex of general formula (C11H16NO)@Tiiii[C3H7,CH3,C6H5]Cl·CH3OH or C11H16NO+·Cl-·C68H68O12P4·CH3OH, crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c with one lattice methanol mol-ecule per cavitand, disordered over two positions with occupancy factors of 0.665 (6) and 0.335 (6). The mephedrone guest inter-acts with the P=O groups at the upper rim of the cavitand through two charge-assisted N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, while the methyl group directly bound to the amino moiety is stabilized inside the π basic cavity via cation⋯π inter-actions. The chloride counter-anion is located between the alkyl legs of the cavitand, forming C-H⋯Cl inter-actions with the aromatic and methyl-enic H atoms of the lower rim. The chloride anion is also responsible for the formation of a supra-molecular chain along the b-axis direction through C-H⋯Cl inter-actions involving the phenyl substituent of one phospho-nate group. C-H⋯O and C-H⋯π inter-actions between the guest and adjacent cavitands contribute to the formation of the crystal structure.

Wide-range screening of psychoactive substances by FIA-HRMS: identification strategies

Recreational drugs (illicit drugs, human and veterinary medicines, legal highs, etc.) often contain lacing agents and adulterants which are not related to the main active ingredient. Serious side effects and even the death of the consumer have been related to the consumption of mixtures of psychoactive substances and/or adulterants, so it is important to know the actual composition of recreational drugs. In this work, a method based on flow injection analysis (FIA) coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) is proposed for the fast identification of psychoactive substances in recreational drugs and legal highs. The FIA and HRMS working conditions were optimized in order to detect a wide range of psychoactive compounds. As most of the psychoactive substances are acid-base compounds, methanol-0.1 % aqueous formic acid (1:1 v/v) as a carrier solvent and electrospray in both positive ion mode and negative ion mode were used. Two data acquisition modes, full scan at high mass resolution (HRMS) and data-dependent tandem mass spectrometry (ddMS/HRMS) with a quadrupole-Orbitrap mass analyzer were used, resulting in sufficient selectivity for identification of the components of the samples. A custom-made database containing over 450 substances, including psychoactive compounds and common adulterants, was built to perform a high-throughput target and suspect screening. Moreover, online accurate mass databases and mass fragmenter software were used to identify unknowns. Some examples, selected among the analyzed samples of recreational drugs and legal highs using the FIA-HRMS(ddMS/HRMS) method developed, are discussed to illustrate the screening strategy used in this study. The results showed that many of the analyzed samples were adulterated, and in some cases the sample composition did not match that of the supposed marketed substance.

Determination of designer drug cross-reactivity on five commercial immunoassay screening kits

The detection of new designer drugs is often a difficult issue in forensic urine drug testing as immunoassays are the primary screening methodology for drugs of abuse in many of these laboratories. Cross-reactivity of compounds with immunoassay kits can either aid or complicate the detection of a variety of drug and drug metabolites. For instance, emerging designer drugs that share structural similarities to amphetamines and phencyclidine (PCP) have the potential to cross-react with assays designed to detect these compounds. This study evaluates the cross-reactivity of five commercially available immunoassay reagent kits for 94 designer drugs on a Roche/Hitachi Modular P automated screening instrument. The compounds used in this study are grouped by structural class as follows: 2,5-dimethoxyamphetamines, 2C (2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamines), β-keto amphetamines, substituted amphetamines, piperazines, α-pyrrolidinopropiophenones, tryptamines and PCP analogs. A drug concentration of 100 µg/mL was used to determine cross-reactivity for each assay and resulted in the following positive rates: Microgenics DRI(®) Ecstasy enzyme assay (19%), Microgenics DRI(®) Phencyclidine enzyme assay (20%), Lin-Zhi Methamphetamine enzyme immunoassay (39%), Siemens/Syva(®) EMIT(®)II Plus Amphetamines assay (43%) and CEDIA(®) DAU Amphetamine/Ecstasy assay (57%). Of the 94 designer drugs tested, 14% produced a negative response for all five kits. No designer drug used in this study generated a positive result for all five immunoassay kits.

Using cheminformatics to predict cross reactivity of "designer drugs" to their currently available immunoassays

Background

A challenge for drug of abuse testing is presented by ‘designer drugs’, compounds typically discovered by modifications of existing clinical drug classes such as amphetamines and cannabinoids. Drug of abuse screening immunoassays directed at amphetamine or methamphetamine only detect a small subset of designer amphetamine-like drugs, and those immunoassays designed for tetrahydrocannabinol metabolites generally do not cross-react with synthetic cannabinoids lacking the classic cannabinoid chemical backbone. This suggests complexity in understanding how to detect and identify whether a patient has taken a molecule of one class or another, impacting clinical care.

Methods

Cross-reactivity data from immunoassays specifically targeting designer amphetamine-like and synthetic cannabinoid drugs was collected from multiple published sources, and virtual chemical libraries for molecular similarity analysis were built. The virtual library for synthetic cannabinoid analysis contained a total of 169 structures, while the virtual library for amphetamine-type stimulants contained 288 compounds. Two-dimensional (2D) similarity for each test compound was compared to the target molecule of the immunoassay undergoing analysis.

Results

2D similarity differentiated between cross-reactive and non-cross-reactive compounds for immunoassays targeting mephedrone/methcathinone, 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone, benzylpiperazine, mephentermine, and synthetic cannabinoids.

Conclusions

In this study, we applied 2D molecular similarity analysis to the designer amphetamine-type stimulants and synthetic cannabinoids. Similarity calculations can be used to more efficiently decide which drugs and metabolites should be tested in cross-reactivity studies, as well as to design experiments and potentially predict antigens that would lead to immunoassays with cross reactivity for a broader array of designer drugs.

"Bath salts" induced severe reversible cardiomyopathy

Patient: Male, 27

Final Diagnosis: Bath salt induced cardiomyopathy

Symptoms: Agitation • fever • pedal edema

Medication: Intravenous nor-epinephrine for less than 6 hours

Clinical Procedure: —

Specialty: Internal medicine • cardiology