Presumptive test Flashcards
What is a presumptive test
- They generally are a chemical solution that reacts with a specific chemical or functional group
- The reaction results in a visual colour change (positive)
- Tests are very sensitive but not specific
if the reaction is positive what is required
follow up analysis
drugs- presumptive test
- Usually colourimetric
- If drug is present, a colour is observed; if not present another colour is observed.
- Indicative and only qualitative
- Followed by confirmatory analysis in the laboratory – quantitative results
types of presumptive tests
- Prospect that the unknown substance may be any one of a thousand or more commonly encountered drugs
- Screening tests to reduce these possibilities to a small and manageable number
- Often accomplished by subjecting the material to a series of colour tests – Spot tests
- Characteristic colours for the more commonly encountered compound e.g. illicit drugs
marquis reagent
Drug-Colour Amphetamine- organe brown aspirin- pink codeine- purple diphenhydramine- yellow fentanyl- orange heroin- purple meperidine - orange methamphetamine- orange- brown morphine- purple opium- purple propoxyphene- black psilocybin- yellow
advantages of presumptive tests
- Simple – easy to use
- Cheap
- Sensitive
disadvantages of presumptive tests
- Not specific
- False positives
- False negatives
confirmatory test
- Confirmatory tests provide a definite answer to the nature of the test
- They may be less sensitive but of course are specific
- Can be costly
- Errors can still occur
presumptive/confirmatory test
- Body fluids
- Drugs of abuse
- Explosives
analysis of drugs
- Microcrystalline tests
- Thin layer chromatography
- IR
Microcrystalline test
Used to identify specific drug substances by studying the size and shape of crystals formed when the drug is mixed with specific reagents
TLC
Separation technique that uses the solubility and physical properties of the controlled substance to separate compounds (chromatography)
Multiple samples and standards can be spotted on the same TLC plate and the results of the separation compared
TLC equation
rf= distance from origin to centre of spot/ distance from origin to solvent front
analysis of drug scheme
- Physical examination
- Sampling and extraction
- Presumptive tests
- Preparation of evidence for analysis
- Bench and instrumental analysis
analysis of drug scheme diagram
look on ppt
heterogenous samples
- All real materials are heterogenous
- Two types of material heterogeneities which will influence the sampling of illicit drugs
- Distribution heterogeneity
- Constitution heterogeneity
mixing and sampling
seen on previous ppt
distributing heterogeneity
- Differences in how the pieces (fragments, particles or molecules) are distributed spatially
- How well mixed or segregated the material is due to density, particle size and other factors
- Different pieces of material make different contributions to the average concentration
- E.g. THC concentration in cannabis plants will differ between bud, leaves, stalk etc.
constitution heterogeneity
- Differences in the constitution of the material
- How alike or different the individual particles or molecules are
- For solids – variation between individual fragments or particles
- For liquids and gases – individual molecules