chromatography and mass spectrometry. Anal. Chem. 1972, 44(2),
408–410.
7. Uhl, M. Determination of drugs in hair using GC=MS=MS. Forensic
Science International 1997, 84(1–3), 281–294.
8. Dolan, J. A. Analytical methods for the detection and characterization
of ignitable liquid residues from fire debris. In: Analysis and Interpret-
ation of Fire Scene Evidence; Jose, R. Almirall, Kenneth G. Furton, Ed.;
CRC Press, 2004; 137–164.
9. Wielbo, D.; Tebbett, I. R. Use of microfourier transform infrared spec-
troscopy for the rapid identification of street drugs: Determination of
interference by common diluents. J. Forensic Sci. Soc. 1993, 33,
25–32.
analysis, the major component in TBMP is 1-benzyl-4-
methylpiperazine (Fig. 3, II), and the minor compo-
nent is 1-benzyl piperazine. This drug is soluble in
water and methanol. It was not positive with any of
the color tests we used. A ratio of 64:1 for 1-benzyl-4-
methylpiperazine to 1-benzyl piperazine indicates
that 1-benzyl-4-methylpiperazine was probably pre-
pared from 1-benzyl piperazine. To date there is very
little reported in the literature about 1-benzyl-4-
methylpiperazine in comparison to 1-benzylpipera-
zine. For the student, this project provides a solid
strategy in forensic chemistry for identifying drugs,
starting with presumptive tests (color, pH, TLC, UV,
IR) and ending with confirmation tests (GC=MS,
NMR). Students learn how to use analytical spec-
troscopy to predict the chemical structure of a mol-
ecule.
10. Chalmers, J.; Griffiths, P. R. Handbook of Vibrational Spectroscopy;
John Wiley & Sons: New York, 2002.
´
11. Daeid, N. N.; Waddell, R. J. H. The analytical and chemometric
procedures used to profile illicit drug seizures. Talanta 2005, 67,
280–285.
12. de Peinder, P.; Vredenbregt, M. J.; Visser, T.; de Kaste, D. Detection
of Lipitor counterfeits: A comparison of NIR and Raman spectroscopy
in combination with chemometrics. J. Pharm. Biomed. Anal. 2008,
47, 688–694.
13. Msimanga, H. Z.; Ollis, R. J. Discerning some Tylenol brands
using attenuated total reflection fourier transform infrared data
and multivariate analysis techniques. Appl. Spectrosc. 2010, 64(6),
657–668.
´
14. de Boer, D.; Bosman, I. J.; Hidvegi, E., Manzoni, C.; Benko, A. A.; dos
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Reyes, L.; Maes, R. A. A. Piperazine-like compounds: A new group of
designer drugs-of-abuse on the European market. Forensic Science
International 2001, 121, 47–56.
The authors thank Robert Ollis Jr (U.S. Army Crimi-
nal Investigation Laboratory, Forest Park, Georgia),
who has been immensely helpful in shaping our for-
ensic chemistry program; Benjamin Huck for making
certain that our instruments are up and running; and
The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry for
its financial support and instrumentation.
15. Staak, R.; Fritschi, G.; Maurer, H. New DesignerDdrug 1-(3-trifluoro-
methylphenyl) piperazine (TFMPP): Gas chromatography=mass spec-
trometry and liquid chromatography=mass spectrometry studies on
its Phase I and II metabolism and on its toxicological detection in
rat urine. Journal of Mass Spectrometry 2003, 38, 971–981.
16. Westphal, F.; Junge, T.; Girreser, U.; Stobbe, S.; Perez, S. B. Structure
elucidation of
a new designer benzylpiperazine: 4-Bromo-2,5--
dimethoxy-benzylpiperazine. Forensic Science International 2009,
187(1–3), 87–96.
17. Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Justice. Controlled
scheduleslindex.html (accessed on March 10, 2011).
18. Saferstein, R. Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science,
8th ed.; Pearson Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2004,
255–256.
REFERENCES
1. Gregory, K. Flashback to the Federal Analog Act of 1986: Mixing
rules and standards in the cauldron. University of Pennsylvania Law
Review 2008, 156, 1077–1115.
2. Huskins, B.; Dockery, C. R. Detection of psilocybin mushroom analogs
in chocolate: Incorporating current events into the undergraduate
teaching laboratory. Chem. Educator 2009, 14, 1–3.
19. O’Neal, C. L.; Crouch, D. J.; Fatah, A. A. Validation of twelve chemi-
cal spot tests for the detection of drugs of abuse. Forensic Science
International 2000, 109(3), 189–201.
3. Henck, C.; Nally, L. GC=MS analysis of c- hydroxybutyric acid analog:
A forensic chemistry experiment. Journal of Chemical Education
2007, 84(11), 1813–1815.
20. Wikstrom, M.; Holmgren, P.; Ahlner, J. A2 (N-benzylpiperazine),
a new drug of abuse in Sweden. J. Anal. Toxicol. 2004, 28(1),
67–70.
4. Hasan, S.; Bromfield-Lee, D.; Oliver-Hoyo, M.; Cintron-Maidonado, J.
A. Using laboratory chemicals to imitate illicit drugs in a forensic
chemistry activity. J. Chem. Educ. 2008, 85(6), 813–816.
5. Scientific Working Group for the Analysis of Seized Drugs. http://
21. Takahashi, M.; Nagashima, M.; Suzuki, J., Seto, T.; Yasuda, I.;
Yoshida, T. Creation and application of psychoactive designer drugs
data library using liquid chromatography with photodiode array spec-
trometry detector and gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry.
Talanta 2009, 77, 1245–1272.
6. Nakamura, G. R.; Noguchi, T. T.; Jackson, D.; Banks, D. Forensic
identification of heroin in illicit preparations using integrated gas
piperazine (accessed on March 10, 2011).
H. Z. Msimanga and G. P. Everhart
166