Identification and quantification of synthetic cannabinoids in ‘spice-like’ herbal mixtures: Update of the German situation in early 2017

Abstract In February 2017, eleven “Spice-like” products (14 individual packages including replicates) from German language internet shops were analyzed. In total, three different synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) were identified by gas-chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), namely MDMB-CHMICA and two, so far only partially described compounds, 5F-Cumyl-P7AICA and Cumyl-PeGACLONE. All analyzed products contained only one synthetic cannabinoid as active ingredient. 5F-Cumyl-P7AICA and Cumyl-PeGACLONE were subject to an in-depth characterization by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), electron ionization mass spectrometry (EI-MS), electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS), infrared and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (IR and UV/Vis). Cumyl-PeGACLONE shows a rather unexpected structure compared to conventional SCs of the past. Hence a global minima calculation was conducted to demonstrate structural similarity of Cumyl-PeGACLONE to JWH-018, a classical SC. In addition, all SCs were quantified by a GC–MS method using JWH-018 as internal standard and corresponding response factors. While MDMB-CHMICA was detected in six out of 14 tested products (ranging from 6 to 20 mg/g; average 10 mg/g), 5F-Cumyl-P7AICA and Cumyl-PeGACLONE were detected in three (109–153 mg/g; average 131 mg/g) and five products (15–74 mg/g; average 39 mg/g), respectively.