Fentanyl analogue detection methods and kits thereof
A portable detection kit for identifying the presence of narcotic compounds (NCs) includes at least one chemical dye, a catalytic reagent, at least one solvent, and a least one surfactant. The at least one dry chemical dye is configured to undergo physic-chemical interaction with at least one predetermined NC to produce a color visible change. The at least one predetermined NC is selected from the group consisting of fentanyl analogues (FAs) and narcotics containing nitrogen heterocyclic moiety.
1 . A portable narcotic-detection kit for detecting a narcotic compound present in a sample, the portable narcotic-detection kit comprising:
(i) a solid support comprising a dry chemical dye and a dry catalytic reagent wherein the dry catalytic reagent is selected from the group consisting of sodium bicarbonate, sodium tetraborate, calcium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, citric acid, a salt of an organic acid, an ionic natural surfactant, an ionic synthetic surfactant, a non-ionic natural surfactant, and a non-ionic synthetic surfactant; and
(ii) an absorbent material comprising a solvent and a surfactant; wherein the absorbent material is separate from the solid support within the portable narcotic-detection kit and the dry chemical dye is configured to produce a visible color change by undergoing a physicochemical interaction when exposed to the narcotic compound wherein the narcotic compound is selected from the group consisting of a fentanyl analogue and a narcotic containing a nitrogen heterocyclic moiety.
2 . The portable narcotic-detection kit of claim 1 , wherein the sample is a pure liquid, a pure gel or a pure solid powder or is a liquid, a gel or a solid powder admixed with cutting agents.
3 . The portable detection kit of claim 1 , wherein the dry chemical dye is a phthalein dye.
4 . The portable narcotic-detection kit of claim 3 , wherein the phthalein dye is selected from the group consisting of tetrabromophenolphthalein ethyl ester (TBPPEE) and a TBPPEE salt.
5 . The portable narcotic-detection kit of claim 1 , wherein the dry chemical dye is a diazonium dye.
6 . The portable narcotic-detection kit of claim 5 , wherein the diazonium dye is 4-bromobenzene diazonium tetrafluoroborate or 4-nitrobenzene diazonium tetrafluoroborate.
7 . The portable narcotic-detection kit of claim 1 , wherein the dry catalytic reagent is configured to increase a rate of appearance of the visible color change resulting from the physicochemical interaction between the dry chemical dye reagent and the predetermined narcotic compound.
8 . The portable narcotic-detection kit of claim 1 , wherein the solvent is a polar aprotic solvent or a non-polar aprotic solvent.
9 . The portable narcotic-detection kit of claim 1 , wherein the solvent is selected from the group consisting of benzene, hexane, an ether, toluene, xylene, pseudo cumene, cumene, s naphthalene, a turpene, a plant oil extract, a wax, a paraffin, an ether, an ester, methanol, ethanol, and propanol.
10 . The portable narcotic-detection kit of claim 9 , wherein the solvent is a plant oil extract selected from the group consisting of citral, an eucalyptus oil, an orange fruit oil, a seed oil, olive oil, a citrus oil, tea tree oil, and a pine oil.
11 . The portable narcotic-detection kit of claim 9 , wherein the plant oil extract is an eucalyptus oil.
12 . The portable narcotic-detection kit of claim 1 , wherein the surfactant of the absorbent material is selected from the group consisting of an anionic C10-C20 alcohol ethoxylate, cationic C10-C20 alcohol ethoxylate, a zwitterionic C10-C20 alcohol ethoxylate, a non-ionic C10-C20 alcohol ethoxylate, a fatty acid ester, an amine oxide, a sulfoxide, a phosphine oxide, a soybean oil, and a plant derived surfactant.
13 . The portable narcotic-detection kit of claim 1 , wherein the surfactant of the absorbent material is a C10-16 pareth-1 or sodium lauryl sulfate.
14 . The portable narcotic-detection kit of claim 1 , wherein the dry chemical dye is intermixed with the dry catalytic reagent.
15 . The portable narcotic-detection kit of claim 14 , wherein the dry chemical dye and the dry catalytic reagent form a dry chemical dye to dry catalytic reagent ratio of about 1 part of dry chemical dye per 500 parts of dry catalytic reagent by weight.
16 . The portable narcotic-detection kit of claim 1 , wherein the solvent is intermixed with the surfactant of the absorbent material in a solvent to surfactant ratio of about 1.5 L of solvent per 20 g of surfactant or of about 99 parts of solvent per 1 part of surfactant by weight.