Elemental analysis of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA): A tool to determine the synthesis method and trace links

The elemental composition of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) powders and tablets was determined. The objective was the identification of the synthesis method and application of the elemental profile in comparative analysis. The developed analytical method comprised the digestion of a sample followed by quantitative analysis with inductive coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and inductive coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The sample collection consisted of a unique set of MDMA powders (57) from illicit production sites and MDMA tablets (97) taken from large seizures (over 500 tablets) in the Netherlands. The production method of MDMA could be determined for 89 of the 97 tablets. In 84 cases reductive amination using Pt as the catalyst was used, in four cases reductive amination using NaBH(4) or a similar reducing agent was employed and one mixed sample (Pt and B) was found. None of the MDMA tablets were assigned to the aluminium amalgam method. Using the elemental profile, 13 links were identified within the 97 MDMA tablets using cluster analysis based on Pearson correlations. Of these links 10 were corroborated by additional analyses.