[morellen]

Hi.

I'm writing a paper (and posting an associated blog post, I'll throw up a link when it is done) regarding designer drug use especially among college students. The investigation involves interviewing some of my classmates, gathering various statistics, and hopefully actually running some tests on some of these substances. Kind of a comprehensive research approach.

I'm focusing my research primarily on 2-Fluoromethamphetamine due to its popularity on campus. (And the fact that I can legally possess it for purposes of testing purity / screening for hazardous substances).

Disclosure: 2-fma is not illegal to possess, I checked the forum rules and am trying to not violate any of them; I don't think I have. I am not asking for assistance synthesizing any drug nor am I commenting upon or condoning its use. My inquiries here are purely academic.

In my initial research I have discovered a lot of snippets online regarding the purity and safety of such designer drugs and I want to obtain several samples from around campus and test them for impurities or other undeclared compounds. I am intending to release the analysis of impurities to the campus at large if there is anything dangerous or unusual mixed in and hopefully that can do some good too.

Unfortunately I am a writing-type and haven't had the opportunity to take any chemistry classes so far. Hence my plea for assistance.

Can anyone advise a means whereby the purity of this substance could be tested on a student budget and/or test it for dangerous cutting agents and impurities? I can afford upwards of nearly twenty dollars on supplies and can probably talk one of the labs into letting me use their equipment.

Any ideas on how to go about this? I'm not afraid of having to do a bit of research and learning before I can go ahead with the tests but am on a somewhat restricted timeline.

I really appreciate any help figuring out how to do this, or even links to relevant sites tagged RTFM (I searched around but I'm not sure I've even asked the right questions).

[Arkcon]

A good test for purity and identity in this sort of analysis is LC-MS.  Many manufacturers of the relevant equipment and consumables publish protocols for the procedures they suggest, and they publish application notes that they send to people they think might be interested.  Such instruments should be available to the average university, but scheduling instrument time may be problematic.  You'll have to start by checking around the chemistry department.

[fledarmus]

This might help...

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379073809005490

[Stepan]

On the "student's" budget (meaning for free) it cannot be done with any degree of accuracy.

[fledarmus]

On the "student's" budget (meaning for free)...

Well, a "student's" budget also includes anything that can be begged, borrowed, or... well, maybe not stolen but at least liberated from its current unused state. This can include setting up old equipment in somebody's lab or asking somebody to do a couple of LC-MS runs when the machine isn't otherwise occupied. Students may not have a lot of money, but they usually have access either to some nice (if old) equipment or at least to the people who do have access to such equipment.