The hydrated and anhydrous gold(III) tetrachloride salts ofL-ecgonine, an important forensic toxicology marker for cocaine

Erdmann’s Anion—An Inexpensive and Useful Species for the Crystallization of Illicit Drugs after Street Confiscations

Erdmann’s anion [1,6-diammino tetranitrocobaltate(III)] is useful in the isolation and crystallization of recently confiscated street drugs needing to be identified and catalogued. The protonated form of such drugs forms excellent crystals with that anion; moreover, Erdmann’s salts are considerably less expensive than the classically used AuCl4− anion to isolate them, while preparation of high-quality crystals is equally easy in both cases. We describe the preparation and structures of the K+CoH6N6O8− and NH4+CoH6N7O8−, salts of Erdmann’s. In addition, herein are described the preparations of this anion’s salts with cocaine (C17H28CoN7O12), with methamphetamine (C10H22CoN7O8), and with methylone (C22H34CoN8O14), whose preparation and stereochemistry had been characterized by the old AuCl4− salts methodology. For all species in this report, the space groups and cell constants were determined at 296 and 100 K, looking for possible thermally induced polymorphism—none was found. Since the structures were essentially identical at the two temperatures studied, we discuss only the 100 K results. Complete spheres of data accessible to a Bruker ApexII diffractometer with Cu–Kα radiation, λ = 1.54178 Å, were recorded and used in the refinements. Using the refined single crystal structural data for the street drugs, we computed their X-ray powder diffraction patterns, which are beneficial as quick identification standards in law enforcement work.

Rational design, synthesis and 2D-QSAR studies of antiproliferative tropane-based compounds

Novel tropane-based compounds were synthesized exhibiting antiproliferative properties against HepG2 and MCF7 carcinoma cell lines.

Crystallographic investigations of select cathinones: emerging illicit street drugs known as `bath salts'

The name `bath salts', for an emerging class of synthetic cathinones, is derived from an attempt to evade prosecution and law enforcement. These are truly illicit drugs that have psychoactive CNS (central nervous system) stimulant effects and they have seen a rise in abuse as recreational drugs in the last few years since first having been seen in Japan in 2006. The ease of synthesis and modification of specific functional groups of the parent cathinone make these drugs particularly difficult to regulate. MDPV (3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone) is commonly encountered as its hydrochloride salt (C16H21NO3·HCl), in either the hydrated or the anhydrous forms. This `bath salt' has various names in the US,e.g.`Super Coke', `Cloud Nine', and `Ivory Wave', to name just a few. We report here the structures of two forms of the HCl salt, one as a mixed bromide/chloride salt, C16H22NO3+·0.343Br−·0.657Cl−[systematic name: 1-(benzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-yl)-2-(pyrrolidin-1-ium-1-yl)pentan-1-one bromide/chloride (0.343/0.657)], and the other with the H7O3+cation, as well as the HCl counter-ion [systematic name: hydroxonium 1-(benzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-yl)-2-(pyrrolidin-1-ium-1-yl)pentan-1-one dichloride, H7O3+·C16H22NO3+·2Cl−]. This is one of a very few structures (11 to be exact) in which we have a new example of a precisely determined hydroxonium cation. During the course of researching the clandestine manufacture of MDPV, we were surprised by the fact that a common precursor of this illicit stimulant is known to be the fragrant species piperonal, which is present in the fragrances of orchids, most particularly in the case of the vanilla orchid. We found that MDPV can be made by a Grignard reaction of this heliotropin. This may also explain the unexpected appearance of the bromide counter-ion in some of the salts we encountered (C16H21NO3·HBr), one of which is presented here [systematic name: 1-(benzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-yl)-2-(pyrrolidin-1-ium-1-yl)pentan-1-one bromide, C16H22NO3+·Br−]. Complexation of MDPV with a forensic crystallizing reagent, HAuCl4, yields the tetrachloridoaurate salt of this drug, (C16H22NO3)[AuCl4]. The heavy-metal complexing agent HAuCl4has been used for over a century to identify common quarternary nitrogen-containing drugsviamicroscopic identification. Another street drug, called ethylone (3,4-methylenedioxyethylcathinone), is regularly sold and abused as its hydrochloride salt (C12H15NO3·HCl), and its structure is herein described (systematic name:N-{1-[(benzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-yl)carbonyl]ethyl}ethanaminium chloride, C12H16NO3+·Cl−). Marketed and sold as a `bath salt', `plant feeder', or `cleaning product', this drug is nothing more than a slight chemical modification of the banned drug methylone (3,4-methylenedioxymethcathinone). As with previously popular synthetic cathinones, the abuse of ethylone has seen a recent increase due to regulatory efforts on previous generations of cathinones that are now banned.

Understanding the microcrystal tests of three related phenethylamines: theortho-metallated (±)-amphetamine formed with gold(III) chloride, and the tetrachloridoaurate(III) salts of (+)-methamphetamine and (±)-ephedrine

Theortho-metallation product of the reaction of (±)-amphetamine with gold(III) chloride, [D,L-2-(2-aminopropyl)phenyl-κ2N,C1]dichloridogold(III), [Au(C9H12N)Cl2], and the two salts resulting from crystallization of (+)-methamphetamine with gold(III) chloride, D-methyl(1-phenylpropan-2-yl)azanium tetrachloridoaurate(III), (C10H16N)[AuCl4], and of (±)-ephedrine with gold(III) chloride, D,L-(1-hydroxy-1-phenylpropan-2-yl)(methyl)azanium tetrachloridoaurate(III), (C10H16NO)[AuCl4], have different structures. The first makes a bidentate complex directly with a dichloridogold(III) group, forming a six-membered ring structure; the second and third each form a salt with [AuCl4]−(each has two formula units in the asymmetric unit). The organic components are all members of the same class of stimulants that are prevalent in illicit drug use. These structures are important contributions to the understanding of the microcrystal tests for these drugs that have been employed for well over 100 years.