Advisor(s)

Paul Vouros

Contributor(s)

Adam Hall

Date of Award

2010

Date Accepted

4-2010

Degree Grantor

Northeastern University

Degree Level

M.S.

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department or Academic Unit

College of Arts and Sciences. Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

Keywords

differential mobility spectrometry, salvia divinorum, smokeless powder

Subject Categories

Ion mobility spectroscopy, Salvia divinorum--Identification

Disciplines

Organic Chemistry

Abstract

Salvia divinorum can be mostly found in southern Mexico where it is a native plant to the Oaxaca region. Presently, Salvia divinorum is the only known source of Salvinorin A, a hallucinogen which is quite potent. For people, an ingestion of a small dosage of 200-500μg can cause a person to go into a hallucinogenic state. Currently, forensic labs are using GC/MS in order to identify the presence of Salvia divinorum, which takes the instrument approximately 30 minutes to analyze.

Smokeless powder is one of the most common types of explosives today and can be used many ways, including ammunition. Since this is so common, the forensic field has become interested in being able to detect and identify the powder. Smokeless powder is a mixture of different components, including several different stabilizers, which make it sometimes difficult to identify what is used. Currently, the most common instrumentation used is GC/MS, which takes approximately 25 minutes.

Differential Mobility Spectrometry (DMS) is a growing technology for gas phase ion separation. When paired with mass spectrometry, DMS offers many advantages that could help with ion separation, including improvements in mass spectral signal to noise. This thesis presents a new method for ESI-DMS in order to provide a rapid ion separation. Instead of having a run time of over 25 minutes, DMS can help detect and identify the desired ion in one minute.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Rights Holder

Samantha Mosley


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