In forensic toxicology, drugs generally undergo an initial presumptive test, a rapid test that can give preliminary identification or classification of the drug and can help direct future analysis. The traditional presumptive methods for aspirin analysis include colour testing or UV-Vis spectroscopy. Previous research on possible interfering compounds for aspirin analysis found that the UV-Vis presumptive testing was not able to differentiate between aspirin metabolite salicylic acid and chlorpromazine (CPZ), therefore, this project is focused on establishing voltammetry as a presumptive test that can differentiate between these two drugs. A glassy carbon working electrode was used to perform differential pulse voltammetry on solutions in a PBS buffer. The data show that the active ingredient in aspirin, acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), is not able to be detected using a glassy carbon working electrode, however, the metabolite of ASA, salicylic acid (SA) can be detected yielding the DPV seen in Figure 1. CPZ yields two peaks, a major peak at 0.58V and a smaller peak that overlaps with SA 0.84V. The limit of detection for SA is 5.96μM and for CPZ is 4.22μM. Based on data from combined solutions of CPZ and SA the peak at 0.84V is additive of the peaks for SA and CPZ, making it possible to detect both SA and CPZ in the same solution. In addition to the detection of both compounds, calibration curves were created to allow the quantification of SA and CPZ in the same solution. Electrochemical methods allow for quantification of drugs and metabolites and represent viable presumptive testing tools in forensic toxicology.

Forensic electrochemistry for detection of drugs and metabolites

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ACS Fall 2022

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