Top 10 Forensic Compounds/Topics of 2016 – Designer Benzodiazepine Analysis

ByUCT

Compared to other classes of drugs, benzodiazepine abuse is relatively uncommon. However, there has been an upward trend of using them along with other drugs, such as alcohol and opioids, in order to achieve an enhanced overall high. Similar to other commonly abused compounds, such as cannabinoids or amphetamines, “legal” alternatives have been developed for benzos as well in an attempt to bypass the controlled substances act. Traditional benzodiazepines primarily function as neutral analytes, however, there are some that have weakly basic functional groups allowing for ionization at a fixed pH. The Clean Screen® XCEL I column has the capability of simultaneously extracting neutral and basic compounds, while eliminating the need for time-consuming column conditioning and extensive solvent usage for sample cleanup. Check out the method here.

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