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1. SYNONYMS
2.2. SOLUBILITY
The cannabinoids are soluble in ethyl ether, hexane, petroleum ether, chloroform and alcohol.
3. SCREENING TECHNIQUES
Marijuana: A small portion of sample is placed on a microscope slide or in a suitable container and examined
under a low power microscope, 25x to 100x. Viewing can be enhanced by adding a drop of water to the sample
and flattening the material on the slide with a cover glass. The most common features are the cystolith hairs,
resin glands and glandular hairs. The glandular hairs are either unicellular or multicellular; the multicellular
hairs have 8 to 16 cells. The cystolith hairs contain a deposit of calcium carbonate at the base of the hair.
When a drop of 20% hydrochloric acid is added to the calcium carbonate deposit, a characteristic effervescence
is observed.
Hashish: Place a small portion of sample on a microscope slide and add a drop of chloral hydrate solution to the
sample. Cover with a cover glass and view the slide at medium to high magnification (60x to 200x). Observe
the presence of characteristic plant particles, especially cystolithic hairs, glandular hairs, and resin glands. If the
solution is cloudy or highly colored, gently heat the slide to clear the solution.
Procedure:
Modified Duquenois-Levine: Place 30 mg to 100 mg of material in a small container, cover with petroleum
ether and filter into a small test tube. Evaporate to dryness on a steam bath. Add a small amount of Modified
Duquenois-Levine reagent and an equal amount of concentrated hydrochloric acid, stir, and let stand for a few
minutes. A blue to purple color will develop. Add a small portion of chloroform, shake, and let the layers
separate. A violet to purple color in the chloroform layer indicates a positive test for cannabinoids. The
Duquenois-Levine reagent may be added directly to a few drops of hashish, proceeding as above.
Visualization
The locator reagent is 15 mg Fast Blue 2B salt in 20 mL methanol. This solution is unstable and should be prepared fresh.
Method MAR-GCS1
Samples can be extracted with petroleum ether or appropriate solvent and filtered.
4. CONFIRMATORY TECHNIQUES
Method MAR-GCMS1
Samples can be extracted with petroleum ether or appropriate solvent and filtered.
cannabinol 1.16
Method MAR-GCMS2
Samples can be extracted with petroleum ether or appropriate solvent and filtered.
cannibinol 1.19
4.2 GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY/IFRARED SPECTROPHOTOMETRY (GC/IR)
Method MAR-GCIR1
Samples can be extracted with petroleum ether or appropriate solvent, dried, and filtered.
cannabinol 1.25
5. SEPARATION TECHNIQUES
The cannabinoids are separated from the plant material and resins by solvent extraction with petroleum ether.
Petroleum ether also removes some plant waxes, but does not remove other plant materials such as chlorophyll.
After evaporation of the petroleum ether, the cannabinoids are separated from the plant waxes by solvent
extraction with methanol. The methanol soluble cannabinoids can then be separated by GC, HPLC, or TLC.
6. QUANTITATIVE PROCEDURES
N/A
7. QUALITATIVE DATA
See spectra on the following pages for FT/IR, GC/MS, GC/IR, and NMR.
8. REFERENCES
Budavari, S., The Merck Index, 12th Edition, Merck and Co., Inc., 1996, p. 1573-74.
Clarke, E.G.C., Isolation and Identification of Drugs, 2nd Edition, The Pharmaceutical Press, 1986.
Clarke, E.G.C., Clarke’s Analysis of Drugs and Poisons, 3rd Edition, Volume 1, The Pharmaceutical Press,
2004, p. 285. (Appendix A)
Marnell, Tim, Drug Identification Bible, 4th Edition, Amera-Chem, Inc., 1999.
Mills III, Terry, Robertson, J. Conrad, Instrumental Data for Drug Analysis, 2nd Edition, Volume 1, CRC Press,
1993, pp. 306 and 310.
9. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Forendex
Wikipedia