GC-MS and IR Studies on the Six Ring Regioisomeric Dimethoxyphenylpiperazines (DOMePPs)

• NCJ Number: 249389
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 60 Issue: 2 Dated: March 2015 Pages: 285-294
• Author(s): Karim M. Abel-Hay; Jack DeRuiter; C. Randall Clark
• Date Published: March 2015
• Length: 10 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2011-DN-BX-K530
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored)
• Award: Analytical and Synthetic Studies on Designer Drugs of the Piperazine Class This project will address issues of resolution and discriminatory capabilities in controlled substance analysis.

Annotation

In this study, a complete series of regioisomeric dimethoxyphenylpiperazines were synthesized and evaluated using GC-MS and FT-IR.

Abstract

A number of N-substituted piperazines have been described as drugs of abuse in recent years. This new drug category includes several series of aromatic ring substituted phenylpiperazines. The wide variety of available precursors makes regioisomerism a significant issue in these totally synthetic compounds. In the current study, the EI mass spectra showed fragments characteristic of both the dimethoxyphenyl and the piperazine portions of the molecules, including the dimethoxyphenylaziridinium cation (m/z 180) and dimethoxyphenyl cation (m/z 137). The ion at m/z 56 for the C3H6N+ fragment is characteristic of the piperazine ring and was observed in all the spectra. The perfluoroacyl derivatives were resolved by GC, and their mass spectra showed some differences in relative abundance of ions. FTIR provides direct confirmatory data for differentiation between the regioisomeric dimethoxyphenylpiperazines, and GC separation was accomplished on an Rtx-200 phase. (Publisher abstract modified)