Vapor detection, such as by canine or electronic nose, has the potential to serve as a vital non-contact detection method. Understanding a substance’s unique vapor profile is imperative for development of any vapor detection method. Knowledge of any controlled substance’s headspace profile can also be utilized to develop safe training aids for canine detectors making it easier to detect controlled substances in the field. This research focused on determination of the degradation products making up the headspace profile of fentanyl in order to better determine the active odorant for the development of a canine training aid mimic. After attending, this presentation, attendees will understand how thermal, oxidative, and hygro-degradation (degradation due to moisture – i.e. humidity) affects the formation of volatile compounds in the headspace of fentanyl. This project will impact the forensic scientific community by providing data to aid in both the development of a non-contact detection method as well as training aid mimics in order to unitize canines as a detection tool.
Fentanyl is a Schedule II synthetic opioid with a potency 100 times greater than that of morphine. The thermal and oxidative degradation of fentanyl was studied by Garg et al. (2010). Using hydrogen peroxide for the oxidation studies, researchers identified the formation of fentanyl N-oxide. Thermal degradation at 350°C yielded N-phenylpropanamide (NPPA) and norfentanyl. In the work discussed herein, we discuss the effects of oxidative degradation due to ambient oxygen, thermal degradation at 40°C, and the presence of humidity on the evolution of components in the headspace of fentanyl.
Solid phase microextraction (SPME) with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to determine the VOCs in the headspace profile of fentanyl. To determine which VOCs in fentanyl’s headspace profile can be attributed to degradation, a series of experiments were performed using field-relevant environment