Introduction
You bought JWH-018 or its analogue, but the product has strange effects or looks like something another. Then you decided to figure out its composition. You open this article and use it as a guide for experimenting. The list of manipulations with JWH-018 and analogue products, useful information for home tests and product brief are mentioned below.
JWH-018
Forms
1-Pentyl-3-(1-naphthoyl)indole (also called AM-678 and JWH-018) is a full agonist synthetic cannabinoid first synthesized by organic chemist John W. Huffman. It gained popularity in late 2008 when German chemists found it as a chemical within the popular synthetic cannabis blend Spice, which had been sold in numerous countries around the world since 2002. It produces effects in animals similar to those of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a cannabinoid naturally present in cannabis, leading to its use in synthetic cannabis products that in some countries are sold legally as "incense blends". Cannabinoids are commonly smoked or vaporized to achieve a quick onset of effects and rapid offset. JWH-018 is orally active when dissolved in a lipid, which can increase the duration significantly. Like other cannabinoids, it is insoluble in water but dissolves in ethanol and lipids. JWH-018 or other 3-substituted N-alkylindoles can be sold as pure substance as well as smoking mix (impregnated with JWH tobacco). Pure JWH-018 is white colorless powder, it has crumbly structured.
It was first synthesized in the 1990s by the American chemist John William Huffman. Although the chemical structure of JWH-018 is significantly different from Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the substance produces similar effects. As a result of experiments on animals, it turned out that JWH-018 is about five times more powerful than THC in terms of its effect on the cannabinoid receptors in the brain (CB1 and CB2). On December 15, 2008, the German pharmaceutical company THC Pharm reported that JWH-018 was one of the active ingredients of herbal (smoking) Spice mixtures, which have been widely sold under the guise of incense in several European countries since 2004.
Possible side products and unreacted substances
In the vast majority of cases, JWH-018 is not contaminated or mixed with other substances, but can be substituted by other JWH analogs or other 3-substituted N-alkylindoles. Also, smoking mixtures may contain THC and CBD.
Extraction from smoking mixtures
This step is needed to carry on to extract psychoactive substances from smoking mixtures before testing them by following method.
The multiple functional groups associated with synthetic cannabinoids necessitate a generalized extraction approach. For this analysis, an acid/base combined extraction followed by centrifugation was employed. It is also possible to perform the extraction using methanol incubation. Either approach will extract substantial amounts of matrix components. Using the acid/base approach, an aliquot of homogenized sample (50 – 100 mg) was acidified by adding 1 ml of deionized water, followed by three drops of 10% hydrochloric acid. Next, 1 ml of solvent (95% methylene chloride/5% isopropanol v/v) was added and the sample mixed. The sample was then centrifuged, and the bottom solvent layer retained and set aside. Two drops of concentrated ammonium hydroxide and 1 ml of the solvent (95% methylene chloride/5% isopropanol v/v) were added to the remaining aqueous mixture (top layer). The sample was mixed and centrifuged again. The bottom solvent layer was removed, combined with the first bottom solvent layer collected, and then mixed briefly. Solvent have to be evaporated. Received substance ready for testing.
Algorithm of procedures:
1. Firstly, you have to provide visual checking of your stuff. For instance, you bought pure JWH-018 powder. If your product has different color from powder, It, probably, has some organic or inorganic syntheses side products, which can change structure and color. If you bought smoking mixture, skip this step.
2. Secondary, provide simple experiment with dissolving your product in water. Dissolve 100 mg (100 mg is enough, but more is better) of the JWH-018 sample in 7-10 ml room temperature water. If your sample is solving well, it means that, probably, you have not JWH. JWH-018 analogues are not soluble in water but well soluble in alcohol and fat.
3. Thirdly, confirm the compliance of the product with the declared JWH by LF tests (drug testing kits). You will receive clear result about the presence of your substance in your product. K2/ Spice test reveal JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-210, JWH-398, MAM2201 and so on. Also, you can use multiple drug testing kit for determining other substances, which may be admixtured to your JWH.
Possible side products and unreacted substances
In the vast majority of cases, JWH-018 is not contaminated or mixed with other substances, but can be substituted by other JWH analogs or other 3-substituted N-alkylindoles. Also, smoking mixtures may contain THC and CBD.
Extraction from smoking mixtures
This step is needed to carry on to extract psychoactive substances from smoking mixtures before testing them by following method.
The multiple functional groups associated with synthetic cannabinoids necessitate a generalized extraction approach. For this analysis, an acid/base combined extraction followed by centrifugation was employed. It is also possible to perform the extraction using methanol incubation. Either approach will extract substantial amounts of matrix components. Using the acid/base approach, an aliquot of homogenized sample (50 – 100 mg) was acidified by adding 1 ml of deionized water, followed by three drops of 10% hydrochloric acid. Next, 1 ml of solvent (95% methylene chloride/5% isopropanol v/v) was added and the sample mixed. The sample was then centrifuged, and the bottom solvent layer retained and set aside. Two drops of concentrated ammonium hydroxide and 1 ml of the solvent (95% methylene chloride/5% isopropanol v/v) were added to the remaining aqueous mixture (top layer). The sample was mixed and centrifuged again. The bottom solvent layer was removed, combined with the first bottom solvent layer collected, and then mixed briefly. Solvent have to be evaporated. Received substance ready for testing.
Algorithm of procedures:
1. Firstly, you have to provide visual checking of your stuff. For instance, you bought pure JWH-018 powder. If your product has different color from powder, It, probably, has some organic or inorganic syntheses side products, which can change structure and color. If you bought smoking mixture, skip this step.
2. Secondary, provide simple experiment with dissolving your product in water. Dissolve 100 mg (100 mg is enough, but more is better) of the JWH-018 sample in 7-10 ml room temperature water. If your sample is solving well, it means that, probably, you have not JWH. JWH-018 analogues are not soluble in water but well soluble in alcohol and fat.
3. Thirdly, confirm the compliance of the product with the declared JWH by LF tests (drug testing kits). You will receive clear result about the presence of your substance in your product. K2/ Spice test reveal JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-210, JWH-398, MAM2201 and so on. Also, you can use multiple drug testing kit for determining other substances, which may be admixtured to your JWH.
4. You did not find any pollutants, and you still doubt in your JWH sample or LF tests reveal admixtured narcotic substance, lead experiments with test reagents. Use «Drugs testing reagents». These methods help to determine kind of admixtures. There are manuals, which are described checking method procedures and meaning, where you can find methods of reagent synthesis. With help of drug testing reagents, you may determine the kind of your JWH. Liebermann and Froehde test reagents are primary tests used for JWH row determination. According to data from testing reagent experiments, you may compare and approve result by TLC.
For TLC, you need to use one of the following solvent systems:
- Toluene:diethyl amine, 9:1;
- Ethyl acetate:methylene chloride:methanol:ammonium hydroxide, 18.5:18:3:1;
- Toluene:methanol:diethyl amine, 8:1.5 :0.5.
Conclusion
Melting point verification can be added to the second step to confirm quality compliance and to determine the degree of impurity content. The best ways to determine composition of JWH row products are GC-MS or LC-MS analysis because this stuff may contain different isomer or analogues and by-products which may cause hard to interpret test results. However, this manual allows identifying some of them and approve results by different methods.
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