[Stability of amphetaminil. 1. In-vitro studies]

The decomposition of alpha-phenyl-alpha-N-(beta-phenyl-isopropyl)-aminoacetonitrile (amphetaminil, AN 1¿) in different solvent mixtures seems to depend on their polarity. The rate of hydrolysis of amphetaminil is much higher when the compound is dissolved in a methanol/0.1 N HCl (75/25; v/v) or in methanol containing traces of concentrated HCl (36%) (97.5/2.5; v/v). Using radioactively labelled amphetaminil we were able to demonstrate the decomposition of the compound on TLC plates coated with silica gel--independent from the solvent applied. When plates with cellulose as stationary phase were used for chromatography, amphetaminil proved to be stable in cyclohexan/ethylacetate but underwent decomposition in more polar solvents, for example, methanol and chloroform, respectively.