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Cocaine Base Identification and Quantification.

S H Elsherbini1

  • 1Forensic Investigation Division, New York, NY, USA.

Forensic Science Review
|August 11, 2015
PubMed
Summary

Accurate cocaine base identification and quantification are challenging due to adulterants. A purification method utilizing dissociation constants (pKa) and infra-red (IR) spectroscopy effectively identifies and quantifies cocaine base and its salts.

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Area of Science:

  • Forensic Chemistry
  • Analytical Chemistry

Background:

  • Cocaine analysis is complicated by adulterants that cause interconversion between cocaine base and cocaine salt.
  • Accurate identification and quantification of cocaine free base present significant analytical challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To address the challenges in identifying and quantifying cocaine free base in the presence of adulterants.
  • To present a purification method and analytical techniques for cocaine base and its salts.

Main Methods:

  • A purification procedure based on differences in dissociation constants (pKa) to separate cocaine from adulterants.
  • Infra-red (IR) spectroscopy for the identification of cocaine base due to distinct spectral differences from its hydrochloride form.
  • Review of a quantification method for mixtures of cocaine base and hydrochloride forms with adulterants.

Main Results:

  • The purification procedure effectively mitigates the interconversion problem caused by adulterants.
  • Infra-red (IR) spectroscopy provides a reliable method for identifying cocaine base.
  • A comprehensive method for quantifying cocaine base and its salts in complex mixtures is available.

Conclusions:

  • A combined approach of pKa-based purification and IR spectroscopy offers a robust solution for cocaine base analysis.
  • The reviewed methods enable accurate identification and quantification of cocaine base, even in the presence of common adulterants.
Keywords:
Adulteratecocainecocaine basecocaine salt

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