After cannabis, the most commonly used illicit substance worldwide is amphetamine and its derivatives, such as methamphetamine, with an ever-increasing number of synthetic modifications. Thus, fast and reliable methods are needed to identify them according to their spectral patterns and structures. Here, we have investigated the use of molecular spectroscopy methods to describe the 3D structures of these substances in a solution that models the physiological environment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc
April 2023
An increasing number of products containing synthetic cannabinoids pose a growing crisis to public health worldwide. Recently, a rising number of cases of serious adverse health effects, intoxications, and death cases associated with synthetic cannabinoids were reported. The current study represents the comprehensive structural analysis of three new synthetic cannabinoids (AB-, ADB- and AMB-FUBINACA) in solution investigated by electronic and vibrational circular dichroism together with the conventional methods of infrared and ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy, all supported by the density functional theory (DFT) calculations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc
April 2023
Recently, the number of structural modifications of synthetic cathinones has been growing making them the second largest group of new psychoactive substances in Europe. Although they are abused because of their various psychoactive effects, some compounds from this group also serve as pharmaceuticals. Since synthetic cathinones are chiral molecules with one chiral center, their biological, toxicological, and pharmacological properties may significantly differ according to their absolute configuration and enantiomeric excess.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNew psychoactive substances and among them synthetic cathinones represent a significant threat to human health globally. However, within such a large pool of substances derived from a natural compound (()-cathinone), substances with important pharmaceutical uses can be identified, as already documented by bupropione. Therefore, this work aimed to find a synthetic pathway for a novel synthetic cathinone, namely 4-isobutylmethcathinone, and describe its spectroscopic properties and biological activity in vitro.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmaceuticals (Basel)
January 2022
Additive manufacturing technologies are considered as a potential way to support individualized pharmacotherapy due to the possibility of the production of small batches of customized tablets characterized by complex structures. We designed five different shapes and analyzed the effect of the surface/mass ratio, the influence of excipients, and storage conditions on the disintegration time of tablets printed using the fused deposition modeling method. As model pharmaceutical active ingredients (APIs), we used paracetamol and domperidone, characterized by different thermal properties, classified into the various Biopharmaceutical Classification System groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe dubious online market in phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors is growing on a global scale. Counterfeit medical products can represent health issues for the user and cause medical mistrust. Within this work, genuine Cialis containing the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) tadalafil, its generics available in the Czech Republic and the Cialis tablets from questionable online pharmacies were analysed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn continuation of our efforts to synthesize a highly dedicated strong cation exchanger, we introduce four chiral stationary phases based on a laterally substituted naphthalene core featuring chiral 2-aminocyclohexansulfonic acid as the chiral cation-exchange site. The selectors were modified with two different terminal units, which enabled immobilization to the silica support by thiol-ene radical reaction or azide-yne click chemistry. The chromatographic parameters of these chiral stationary phases were determined using a set of chiral amines, mainly from the family of β-blocker pharmaceuticals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe preparation of inherently chiral rigidified calix[4]arenes with an intact cavity is a synthetic challenge due to the complicated synthesis of the starting compounds. Here, we report on a novel strategy for bridging the upper rim of calix[4]arenes consisting in carbonyl group formation and subsequent "extension" into a two-atom bridge using corresponding rearrangement reactions (Baeyer-Villiger, Beckmann). The resulting inherently chiral compounds are potentially applicable in the design of novel receptors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecently, there has been a worldwide substantial increase in the consumption of new psychoactive substances (NPS), compounds that mimic the structure of illicit drugs, such as amphetamines or ecstasy. The producers try to avoid the law by a slight modification of illicit structures, thereby developing dozens of temporarily legal NPS every year. The current trends in the detection and monitoring of such substances demand a fast and reliable analysis.
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