I know alot of people use DCM, so can any of our local chemist comment on this little ditty. Seems like it would be a problem.
Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis xxx (200
xxx–xxx
Short communication
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine and dichloromethane: Rearrangement of quaternary ammonium salt product during GC–EI and CI-MS–MS analysis
Simon D. Brandt a,∗, Cl´audia P.B. Martins b, Sally Freeman c, Nicola Dempster a,
Mark Wainwright a, Philip G. Riby a, John F. Alder b
a School of Pharmacy and Chemistry, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK
b Centre for Instrumentation and Analytical Science, The University of Manchester, Sackville Street, P.O. Box 88, M60 1QD, UK
c School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
Received 11 October 2007; received in revised form 30 November 2007; accepted 12 December 2007
Abstract
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) 1 is a simple tryptamine derivative with powerful psychoactive properties. It is abundant in nature and easily accessible through a variety of synthetic routes. Most work-up procedures require the use of organic solvents and halogenated representatives are often employed. DMT was found to be reactive towards dichloromethane, either during work-up or long term storage therein, which led to the formation of the quaternary ammonium salt N-chloromethyl-DMT chloride 2. Analysis of this side-product by gas chromatography ion trap mass spectrometry (GC–MS), both in electron and chemical ionisation tandem MS modes, gave only degradation products. For example, 2 could not be detected but appeared to have rearranged to 3-(2-chloroethyl)indole 3 and 2-methyltetrahydro- -carboline 4, whereas HPLC analysis enabled the detection of 2. GC–MS is a standard tool for the fingerprinting of drug products. The identification of a particular synthetic route is based on the analysis of impurities, provided these side products can be established to be route-specific. The in situ detection of both 3 and 4 within a DMT sample may have led to erroneous conclusions with regards to the identification of the synthetic route.
You lock the door, and throw away the key
There's someone in my head but it's not me