Fentanyl Detection Using Eosin Y Paper Assays, |
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Authors: | Jeremy R. Canfield B.S. Sandip Agarwal Ph.D. Samuel K. Fortener B.S. Jon E. Sprague Ph.D. |
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Affiliation: | 1. The Ohio Attorney General’s Center for the Future of Forensic Science, Bowling Green State University, 116 Life Sciences, Bowling Green, OH, 43403;2. Vuronyx Technologies, 5 Walnut Hill Park Unit 13, Woburn, MA, 01801;3. Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, 750 N College Drive, Bowling Green, OH, 43402 |
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Abstract: | Eosin Y is a potential new color test for use in detecting illicit drugs that has not been extensively studied. In the present study, a variety of drugs of abuse and fentanyl analogues were tested to determine which drugs will bind to eosin Y, which functional groups are capable of binding and eliciting a color change, and a mechanism for eosin Y binding to fentanyl. Further, these agents were combined with common cutting agents and other drugs of abuse in order to determine the fentanyl detection limit in a drug mixture using an eosin Y test strip. Additionally, cobalt thiocyanate was used to determine whether the combination of cobalt thiocyanate and eosin Y has the potential to identify fentanyl. Through the testing performed, we concluded that (i) Eosin Y is capable of detecting low amounts of fentanyl down to 1%, (ii) Eosin Y binds to select tertiary amines to produce an orange to pink color change, and (iii) Eosin Y binds to the nonpiperidine ring nitrogen of fentanyl as a primary binding site and the piperidine ring nitrogen as a secondary binding site. While the cobalt thiocyanate assay detected 1% fentanyl in some of the mixtures, eosin Y detected 1% fentanyl in all mixtures. Finally, eosin Y was able to detect fentanyl in forensic case samples containing heroin and various cutting agents. Based on our results, eosin Y has the potential to screen for fentanyl and fentanyl analogues and can detect fentanyl in low amounts when mixed with common cutting agents. |
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Keywords: | eosin Y cobalt thiocyanate presumptive drug test color test fentanyl analogues tertiary amines |
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