Liquid Chromatographic Determination of the Enantiomeric Composition of Methamphetamine Prepared from Ephedrine and Pseudoephedrine

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ac00121a011

Determination of the stereochemical makeup of forensic samples can provide information about the source of the sample and a basis for intersample comparisons.The clandestine synthesis of methamphetamine and related amines continues to be a major source of these drugs of abuse.Most synthetic methods employ carbon-nitrogen bond formation and produce a racemic mixture; however, the individual enantiomers of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine contain the structural components of methamphetamine in chiral form.This paper will focus on the stereochemical course of the synthesis of methamphetamine via hydrogenolysis of the benzylic hydroxyl group in ephedrine and pseudoephedrine.The configurations of these amines were determined by liquid chromatography on an achiral C₁₈ stationary phase following precolumn derivatization with 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-β-D-glucopyranosyl isothiocyanate.