Citation

Saito K, Mamiya Y, Kawakami M, Ito R. J. Forensic Sci. 2024; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1556-4029.15492

PMID

38362738

Abstract

The conventional methamphetamine (MA) detection method using the Simon reaction can be affected by false positives owing to compounds similar to aliphatic secondary amines. In this study, we examined the new Simon reaction to improve the qualitative accuracy of MA detection to discriminate substances that give false positives in a conventional Simon reaction. After the conventional Simon reaction for MA and false positives (N-isopropylbenzylamine (NIP-BA), N-methylbenzylamine (NMe-BA), L-proline (Pro), and L-hydroxyproline (HYP)), which are colored blue, di-tert-butyl dicarbonate (t-Boc) reagent was added, and color tone changes were observed. When t-Boc was added to the false positives (NIP-BA, NMe-BA, Pro, and HYP), the colors of MA, Pro, and HYP changed to purple; NIP-BA changed to blue; and NMe-BA changed to light pink after 3 min. These results suggested that MA can be differentiated from NIP-BA and NMe-BA. Furthermore, the solid-phase chromogenic method was examined, and it was confirmed that MA could be differentiated from Pro and HYP. The method developed in this study should increase the accuracy of MA appraisal at crime scenes and contribute to the reduction of misclassifications arising from false-positive substances.

Language: en

Keywords

di-tert-butyl decarbonate; false-positive substances; HLB cartridge; L-hydroxyproline; L-proline; methamphetamine; N-isopropylbenzylamine; N-methylbenzylamine; Simon reaction; solid-phase chromogenic reaction