WO2003071255A1

WO2003071255A1 - Device for the detection of narcotic, psychotropic and strong action substances of vegetable and synthetic nature and method of its implementation

Info

Publication number: WO2003071255A1
Application number: PCT/RU2003/000019
Authority: WO
Inventors: Evgenii Simonov; Sergei Makarov; Vladimir Makarov; Alexander Kozlov
Original assignee: Evgenii Simonov; Sergei Makarov; Vladimir Makarov; Alexander Kozlov
Priority date: 2002-02-18
Filing date: 2003-01-27
Publication date: 2003-08-28
Also published as: AU2003206276A1; RU2205385C2

Abstract

The present invention relates to analytical chemistry, more particularly, to the detection of narcotic, psychotropic and strong action substances of vegetable and synthetic nature and can be used for the detection of said substances under out-of-lab conditions. For this purpose the present object can be achieved by a kit enclosed in a large test box comprising at least 7 ampoules with reagents for the detection of synthetic drugs and in a small test box comprising at least 2 ampoules with reagents for the detection of vegetable nature and at least 9 sampler plugs.

Description

Device for the Detection of Narcotic, Psychotropic and Strong Action Substances of Vegetable and Synthetic Nature and Method of its Implementation

The present invention relates to analytical chemistry, more particularly, to the detection of narcotic, psychotropic and strong action substances of vegetable and synthetic nature and can be used for the detection of said substances under out-of-lab conditions, for example, in customs offices, forensic departments and police offices.

Known is a method (US Patent 4992296) of the detection of narcotic substances by change in the color of a test material preliminarily deposited onto a filter paper due to exposure of the filter paper to a sample suspected to contain a drug.

Disadvantage of said technical solution is the limited number of drugs detected and its low selectivity resulting in a low reliability of the detection.

Known is a method (RU Patent 2053771) of the detection of narcotic substances, more particularly, mo hine, promorphine, caffeine, dionine, hydrohyodone, marijuana, ***e, codeine, heroine and amphetamine. According to said method, a urine sample of the suspect is deposited onto a test paper in the form of a flexible filter impregnated with solutions of iron (III) chloride, potassium ferricyanide, potassium permanganate, dinitrophenylhydrazone, nitric acid and sulfuric acid. The test with the sample are heated, and the presence of said drugs is detected by change in the test color. Disadvantage of said technical solution is the limited number of drugs detected and its low selectivity resulting in a low reliability of the detection.

The closest counterpart of the present technical solution is method of the detection of narcotic, psychotropic and strong action substances of vegetable and synthetic nature (RU Patent 2138044). According to said method, the sample is exposed to a liquid reagent to obtain a medium the color of which suggests the presence of a drug, wherein the reagents are the Marqui solution and a water buffer solution with pH 2.0 to 7.8 containing bivalent cobalt chloride, sulfate or chloride, potassium, sodium or ammonium thiocyanates, a test material and chloroform. Moreover, Mandelin, Erlich, Mecke and other reagents can be used as reagents. All the reagents and solutions are placed in separate plug covered flasks, wherein the plugs can be used both as samplers and batchers.

Disadvantage of said technical solution is the long process of detection due to the design of the flasks and the plugs, as well as the resultant insufficient reliability of the detection.

Therefore the object of the present invention was to provide for rapid and reliable detection of narcotic, psychotropic and strong action substances of vegetable and synthetic nature under out-of-lab conditions.

The present object can be achieved by a kit enclosed in a large test box comprising at least 7 ampoules with reagents for the detection of synthetic drugs (ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, metaqualone, am- phethamines, methadone, tramadole, mescaline, heroine, codeine, ap- rophen, cyclodole, dimedrol, promedol, phencyclidine, benactyzine, LSD, mo hine, ***e, barbiturates etc.) and in a small test box comprising at least 2 ampoules with reagents for the detection of vegetable nature (opiates, poppy straw, ephedra, hemp and hemp derivatives) and at least 9 sampler plugs in the form of polyethylene cups the bottom parts of which preferably have cylindrical pins the ends of which are covered with a thin layer of non-drying adhesive polymer, wherein each ampoule is in the form of a tube soldered at both sides and containing reagent solutions, this tube having circular notches for opening, and each ampoule is fitted with a short polyethylene tube in such a way that to cover the circular notch.

The device can further contain a vessel with a neutralizing reagent, preferably, aluminum oxide. The device can further contain a flat sheet the surface of which is covered with colored strips corresponding to the color gamut that should be obtained in the reaction medium if the sample contains one of the drugs detected, the color code of each particular drug that can be detected using said device, and a table for entering the color code of the substance being tested. The definition "color code of a drug" as used herein characterizes a set of alphanumeric symbols for the color strips that match the colors obtained in the ampoules due to the exposure to a particular drug. The large test box ampoules contain at least the following reagents: Mar- qui reagent, a reagent that contains 1 to 2.5% of C0CI₂, Co(N0₃)₂ or C0SO4, 0.01 to 3% of [4-[4-(diethylamino)-phenylaso] benzenesul- facid in a water buffer solution with pH 2.0 to 7.8, and chloroform, Mandelin eragent, a reagent containing 1 to 2.5% of CoCl , Co(NOs)₂ or C0SO4, 1 to 3.2 % of KSCN, NaSCN or NH₄SCN in a water buffer solution with pH 2.0 to 7.8, and chloroform, Mecke reagent, a reagent that contains 0.02 to 5% of CuSC solution in a 1-5% hyperidme water solution, and Erlich reagent. The small test box contain at least the following reagents: a reagent that contains 0.01 to 2% of water solution of [9-(2-butoxycarbonylphenyl)-6-die1hylamino)3H-xanthene-3- idene] diethylammoniumchloride and hexane and a reagent that contains 2.5 to 5.5% of CoCl₂, Co(N0₃)₂ or C0SO4, 10 to 20% of KSCN, NaSCN or NH₄SCN, 0.01 to 3% of [4-[4-(diethylamino)-phenylaso] benzenesulfacid in a water buffer solution with pH 2.0 to 7.8, and chloroform.

The detection of narcotic, psychotropic and strong action substances of vegetable and synthetic nature comprises the steps of opening the ampoules of the large and/or small test boxes such that the break remains inside the short polyethylene tube, exposing the sampler to the sample (by either placing the adhesive layer of the sampler into the sample or filling the cup with the sample) and introducing it into the tube of the opened ampoule, thereby exposing the reagent to the sample and, after at least 6 seconds, comparing the color obtained in the ampoule against the set of color strips under each ampoule, following which the number or symbol of the color strip the color of which matches the color of the reagent after the reaction with the test substance should be noted on the flat sheet. If the color of the solution in the ampoule does not match any of the color strips, the corresponding cell of the table should necessarily contain a dash that is also an element of the alphanumeric code. After filling in all the cells of the color code table, one should compare the digits or symbols of the resultant color code against the digits or symbols in the corresponding table cells on the back side of the sheet. If the digits or symbols of the resultant color code match one of the sets of digits or symbols on the back side of the sheet, this is a probable evidence for the presence of the substance the code of which matches. If the reagent in the ampoule has two layers, the color of the solution is determined by the color of one of the layers that was specified earlier. If the kit contains vessels with the neutralizing solution, the samplers and the opened ampoules should preferably be placed into this vessel after the work is over. Vegetable drug samples should be preferably powdered before detection.

In the preferable embodiment of the present invention the device is packed in a transparent polyethylene bag sized 10 x 15 cm with a flexible zipper.

The polyethylene bag comprises:

1. The large test box (7 ampoules) for the detection of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, metaqualone, amphethamines, methadone, tramadole, mescaline, heroine, codeine, aprophen, cyclodole, di- medrol, promedol, phencyclidine, benactyzine, LSD, morphine, ***e, barbiturates etc..

2. The small test box (2 ampoules) for the detection of opiates, poppy straw, ephedra, hemp and hemp derivatives.

3. A transparent polyethylene bag with a flexible zipper sized 7 x 12 cm that contains the neutralizing reagent (10 g of aluminum oxide).

4. Kit usage manual.

The large test box is in the form of a vertical sheath made from a transparent polymer material that comprises at least 7 large cells for the ampoules and 7 small cells for the samplers, wherein the small cells are arranged above the large cells. The back side of the box has a full-length pocket also made from a transparent polymer material where the cardboard sheet is placed. The ampoules are in the form of approximately 7 mm diameter tubes soldered at both sides and containing reagent solutions. Each ampoule has a circular notch for opening at 1 cm from the top side and is tightly fitted with a short (approximately 1 cm) polyethylene tube. The tube is necessary to keep the open ampoule air tight and is fitted in such a way that the circular notch is roughly in the middle of the tube. When the ampoule is opened at the notch and the broken top part is removed, the top part of the tube is used to introduce the sampler into the reaction volume of the ampoule, whereas the bottom part of the tube tightly covers the mouth of the opened ampoule.

Powdered samples are introduced into the reaction volume of the ampoules with plugs that also serve as samplers and, immediately following the introduction, tightly cover the ampoule. The plug is in the form of a polyethylene cup approximately 2 cm high the bottom outside part of which preferably has a cylindrical pin approximately 2 mm in diameter and approximately 5 mm in length the end of which is covered with a thin layer of non-drying adhesive polymer. This design of the sampler allows for sampling and introducing into the reaction volume of dosed amounts of powdered materials and tightly covering the opened ampoule due to the contact of the sampler with the inner surface of the tube.

The ampoules are placed into the large cells of the box, and the samplers are in the small cells above the ampoules, the pins of the samplers being directed outwards of the ampoules.

The cardboard sheet placed in the pocket of the test box adds rigidity to the box thus facilitating the opening of the ampoules and serves for writing information necessary for the analysis. The sheet can be moved down along the box until complete removal. The side of the sheet directed towards the ampoules has color strips (the color code) arranged in stacks under each of the ampoules, these strips corresponding to the color gamut that can be obtained in the reaction volume if the sample contains of the of the drugs that can be detected by the device. Each color strip in the stack has its alphanumeric symbol. To analyze a sample one should compare the color of the reaction medium against the color strips in the stack and fill the free cell of the table under each ampoule with the number or symbol of the color that most closely matches the color in the ampoule. If the color in the ampoule does not match any of the color strips, the appropriate cell of the table should be filled with a dash. Thus, the analysis should result in a code the number of digits or symbols in which corresponds to the number of ampoules in the large box.

The back side of the cardboard sheet has a table containing the names of narcotic, psychotropic and strong action substances and their corresponding color codes. If a code in the table matches the code obtained as a result of the analysis, the sample may contain the substance to which that code corresponds.

If the box is made of a rigid polymer material, e.g. polystyrene, or its rigidity is sufficient for opening the ampoules, the cardboard sheet for writing the information can be replaced by an appropriately sized sheet of usual paper. In this case the sheet is twice folded, and one of the folds is glued to the back wall of the box. During analysis the free fold of the sheet is turned down.

The ampoules of the large test box are filled with at least the following reagents: I. Marqui reagent. LI. Reagent that contains 1 to 2.5% ofCoCl₂, Co(N0₃)₂ or

C0SO₄, 0.01 to 3% of [4-[4-(diethylamino)-phenylaso] benzenesulfacid in a water buffer solution with pH 2.0 to 7.8, and chloroform.

HI. Mandelin reagent.

IV. Reagent that contains 1 to 2.5% of CoCl , Co(N0₃)₂ or C0SO4, 1 to 3.2 % of KSCN, NaSCN or NH₄SCN in a water buffer solution with pH 2.0 to 7.8, and chloroform.

V. Mecke reagent.

VI. Reagent that contains 0.02 to 5% of CUSO₄ solution in a 1-5% hyperidine water solution.

VΗ. Elrich reagent.

The small test box has the same design components with the same functions as for the large test box. However, unlike the large test box, the small test box is designed for at least 2 ampoules, and the samplers used therein are in the form of polyethylene cups approximately 2 cm in height, preferably without cylindrical pins, although cylindrical pins with a non-drying adhesive polymer layer is not excluded. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention the sample is taken in the cup, this method also providing dosed introduction of the sample into the reaction medium. However, the option of a non- drying adhesive polymer layer is also possible. The preference for the sampler without the non-drying adhesive polymer layer is based on the fact that the analyzed samples are usually vegetable in nature and are therefore powdered before the analysis.

The ampoules of the small test box are filled with at least the following reagents: VUI. Reagent that contains 0.01 to 2% of water solution of

[9-(2-butoxycarbonylρhenyl)-6-diethylamino)3H-xanthene-3- idene] diethylammoniumchloride and hexane. IX. Reagent that contains 2.5 to 5.5% of CoCl₂, Co(N0₃)₂ or C0SO₄, 10 to 20% of KSCN, NaSCN or NH4SCN, 0.01 to 3% of [4-[4-(diethylamino)-ρhenylaso] benzenesulfacid in a water buffer solution with pH 2.0 to 7.8, and chloroform. As the reagents contain acids and organic solvents, they should preferably be disposed off after the analysis. The absorbing and neutralizing agent is preferably aluminum oxide.

If the kit is equipped with the neutralizer vessel, the samples after analysis are removed from the ampoules and the box is turned ampoule mouths down, the ampoules being simultaneously placed into the bag with the neutralizing agent. The samplers are placed into that bag also.

For the preferred use of the present invention one should take the test boxes and the bag with neutralizer from the bag, put these objects in front of oneself and then open and position the bag with neutralizer cover upward. After that, having taken the large test box one should position it in the left hand so that the four fingers except the thumb be on the back side of the box at the level of the middle of the ampoules and the thumb be on the front side of the box. Holding the bottom part of the ampoules with the thumb one should sequentially break the top parts of the ampoules moving left to right by pressing upon them with the right thumb. The ampoules should break at a level inside the polyethylene tube. The broken short parts of the ampoules should be placed into the bag with neutralizer. After that one should move the cardboard sheet down so that the top edge of the color table be 1-2 mm below the bottom of the ampoules. Then the tester should fold the released part of the transparent box so that the samplers attached to its top part be oriented cylindrical pin downwards. Following this one should sequentially take the samplers out of the cells, place the cylindrical pins with the adhesive layers into the preliminarily powdered test material attempting to take as much powder as possible and introduce the sampler into the polyethylene tube of the ampoule. The samplers should be in a tight contact with the tube walls and be inserted into their respective ampoules. After introducing all the samplers into the polyethylene tubes of the ampoules ones should turn the test box samplers downwards and hold it in this position for 1 minute, then turn the test box samplers upwards and shake vigorously 3-4 times.

Barbiturates, ***e, ***e base and crack do not change the color of reagent I (Marqui reagent). Ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and amphetamine change its color to weakly yellowish, amphetamines, dimedrol, cyclodol and aprophen change its color to yellow or brown, promedol, tramadol, methadone and mescalin change its color to red and orange, LSD, moφhine, heroine, phencyclidine and codeine change its color to violet and grey, and benactyzine changes its color to blue. The appearance of yellow color in the chloroform layer of reagent II after exposure to the test material suggests the presence of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, metaqualone, amphetamines, methadone, tranadol, mescalin, heroine and codeine, the green color testifies to aprophen, cyclodol, dimedrol, promedol, phencyclidine and amizine, whereas barbiturates, LSD and morphine do not change the color of chloroform. Weakly yellowish hue of reagent HI suggests the presence of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, yellow or brown color indicates metaqualone, dimedrol, methadone, amphetamines, mescalin, aprophen, cyclodol and amizine, green is evidence for LSD, phencyclidine and codeine, grey and violet for promedol, tramadol, moφhine and heroine. Blue color of reagent IV suggests the presence of base ***e, ***e hydrochloride and crack. Yellow color of reagent V (Mecke reagent) shows the presence of methadone, mescaline and amizine, brown is indicative of promedone, blue testifies to morphine, heroine and codeine, green for phencyclidine and violet for tromadol. Blue color of reagent VI suggests barbiturates, and bordeaux-violet color of reagent VII (Erlich reagent) suggests LSD. Red or brown color of the organic phase of reagent VIII suggests the presence of hemp or its derivatives, green color of the organic phase of reagent IX suggests the presence of opium or poppy straw yellow color of the latter suggests ephedra, while lack of color is indicative of hemp and/or its derivatives.

After filling in the cells of the color table one should take the cardboard sheet out of the box, take the samplers from the holders by slightly shaking them and place them into the bag with neutralizer. Holding the ampoules of the test box one should place it opened ampoules down into the bag and finally cover the bag with the neutralizer. The digits or letters of the code is compared against the digits or letters in the appropriate table cells on the back side of the sheet. If these match, the sample is likely to contain the drug having the appropriate code.

The time of analysis for seven ampoules of the large test box is 2-5 minutes, and the time of vegetable drug analysis for two ampoules of the small test box is 10-15 minutes. The reliability of the test is not less than 94% if the sample contains not less than 10% of the target substance.

Claims

What is claimed is a

1. Kit enclosed in a large test box comprising at least 7 ampoules with reagents for the detection of synthetic drugs and in a small test box comprising at least 2 ampoules with reagents for the detection of vegetable nature and at least 9 sampler plugs in the form of polyethylene cups, wherein each ampoule is in the form of a tube soldered at both sides and containing reagent solutions, this tube having circular notches for opening, and each ampoule is fitted with a short polyethylene tube in such a way that to cover the circular notch.

2. Device according to p. 1 wherein the bottom part of said cup has a cylindrical pin covered with a thin layer of a non-drying adhesive polymer.

3. Device according to p. 1 wherein said device further contains a container with a neutralizer.

4. Device according to p. 3 wherein said neutralizer is aluminum oxide.

5. Device according to p. 1 wherein said device further contains a flat sheet the surface of which is covered with colored strips corresponding to the color gamut that should be obtained in the reaction medium if the sample contains one of the drugs detected, the color code of each particular drug that can be detected using said device, and a table for entering the color code of the substance being tested.

6. Device according to p. 1 wherein said large test box ampoules contain at least the following reagents: Marqui reagent, a reagent that contains 1 to 2.5% of CoCl₂. Co(N0₃)₂ or C0SO₄, 0.01 to 3% of [4-[4-(diethylamino)-phenylaso] benzenesulfacid in a water buffer solution with pH 2.0 to 7.8, and chloroform,

Mandelin eragent, a reagent containing 1 to 2.5% of CoCl₂,

Co(NO_s)₂ or CoS0₄, 1 to 3.2 % of KSCN, NaSCN or NH4SCN in a water buffer solution with pH 2.0 to 7.8, and chloroform, Mecke reagent, a reagent that contains 0.02 to 5% of Q1SO₄ solution in a

1-5% hyperidine water solution, and Erlich reagent.

7. Device according to p. 1 wherein said small test box contain at least the following reagents: a reagent that contains 0.01 to 2% of water solution of [9-(2-butoxycarbonylphenyl)-6- diethylamino)3H-xanthene-3-idene] diethylammoniumchloride and hexane and a reagent that contains 2.5 to 5.5% of CoCl₂, Co(N0₃)₂ or C0SO₄, 10 to 20% of KSCN, NaSCN or NH₄SCN, 0.01 to 3% of [4-[4-(diethylamino)-phenylaso] benzenesulfacid in a water buffer solution with pH 2.0 to 7.8, and chloroform.

8. Method of the detection of narcotic, psychotropic and strong action substances of vegetable and synthetic nature wherein the reagents are exposed to the sample to obtain a colored medium the color of which suggests the presence of a substance, this method comprising the steps of opening the ampoules of the large and/or small test boxes such that the break remains inside the short polyethylene tube, exposing the sampler to the sample and introducing it into the tube of the opened ampoule, thereby exposing the reagent to the sample and, after at least 6 seconds, comparing the color obtained in the ampoule against the set of color strips under each ampoule.

9. Method according to p. 8 wherein said sampler is exposed to the sample by touching the sample with said adhesive layer.

10. Method according to p. 8 wherein said sampler is exposed to the sample by filling the cup of each sampler with the sample.

11. Method according to p. 8 wherein the number or symbol of the color strip that matches the color of the reagent after exposure to the sample is marked on the flat sheet.

12. Method according to p. 9 wherein the lack of color of reagent in the free cell is marked with a dash in the appropriate cell, this dash also being element of the color code.

13. Method according to p. 9 wherein after filling the cells of the color table one should compare the digits or symbols of the resultant color code against the digits or symbols in the table on the back side of the sheet, the matching of the resultant digits or symbols with one of the sets of digits or symbols in the table indicates probable presence of the appropriate substance in the sample.

14. Method according to p. 8 wherein after the test the samplers and opened ampoules are placed into the container with neutralizer if one is provided.

15. Method according to p. 8 wherein vegetable drugs are powdered before the test.