Leuckart-specific impurities in amphetamine and methamphetamine seized in Norway

Samples of 28 amphetamine and 7 methamphetamine seizures, taken in Norway from 1975 to 1982, were examined. The amphetamine and methamphetamine contents varied from 9 to 99 per cent and from 9 to 72 per cent respectively. Impurities originating from the synthesis of the illicit samples were identified by gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry. Special attention was paid to "Leuckart-specific" impurities, which could indicate that the Leuckart method of amphetamine and methamphetamine synthesis had been used. N-formyl-methamphetamine, a Leuckart-specific compound, was identified in all the investigated samples of methamphetamine seized in Norway. The Leuckart-specific impurities, 4-methyl-5-phenyl-pyrimidine and N-formyl-amphetamine, were identified in 79 per cent of the amphetamine samples.