Lucy is back in Brazil with a new dress.

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, a John Lennon song that was a hit in the 1960s, was born amidst a social context enlightened by lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). In Brazil, both the drug and the song were very popular at the time, although it gradually mitigated. Nevertheless, while the song remains out of the spotlight, LSD derivatives are currently gaining attention with the rising of the new psychoactive substances (NPS). With this new presentation, the drug is returning to Brazil after a few decades and herein we report and discuss the first cases of an LSD prodrug seized in our country. Nine suspected blotter paper samples were seized by the Sao Paulo State Police in different cities of the State. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) analyses were utilized to confirm the identity of the LSD derivative. The compound was identified as 4-acetyl-N,N-diethyl-7-methyl-4,6,6a,7,8,9-hexahydroindolo[4,3-fg]quinoline-9-carboxamide (ALD-52 or 1A-LSD) and no other active substance was detected in all samples. The identity of the unknown compound found in seized blotter papers has been successfully confirmed as an LSD prodrug, ALD-52, which was not controlled by Brazilian legislation. The arrival of a new type of designer drug in Brazil is in support by other reports, although those are still scarce and should not be overlooked. Altogether, these findings indicate the rising of a new NPS strategy that merits proper discussion.

EASI-IMS an expedite and secure technique to screen for 25I-NBOH in blotter papers.

The increasing number of new psychoactive substances (NPS) and their quick worldwide spreading, often only slightly modified in the form of new derivatives and analogues, have brought the need for fast, wide-ranging, and unequivocal identification methods in clinical and forensic investigations. Because it usually provides secure results, gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) has been routinely employed as the standard technique for the detection of NPS in blotter papers. For 25I-NBOH (N-(2-hydroxybenzyl)-2-(4-iodo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)ethan-1-aminium), however, GC-MS analysis of an blotter paper extract leads to incorrect results. In this work, we investigated whether easy ambient sonic-spray mass spectrometry imaging (EASI-IMS), and ambient ionization MS method can be applied directly to the surface of the sample requiring therefore no extraction or sample preparations, would serve as an efficient, sensitive, and secure alternative for 25I-NBOH screening.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering study of the redox adsorption of p-phenylenediamine on gold or copper surfaces.

The adsorption of the p-phenylenediamine (PPD(+)) radical cation on gold or copper nanoparticle (NP) surfaces was studied through surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy, excited at 1064 nm. The SERS spectra were obtained from gold or copper NPs after exposure to non-oxidized p-phenylenediamine (PPD) aqueous solution, in millimolar concentration. The gold NPs were synthesized as nanoshells involving silica cores (SiO(2)@Au) and the copper NPs were obtained in aqueous medium, undergoing surface oxidation with the formation of Cu(II) oxide nanoshell (Cu@CuO). In the latter, the oxidative adsorption of PPD(+) led to the reduction of the copper oxide, present on NP surface, allowing obtaining the PPD(+) SERS spectrum. The vibrational assignments of the SERS spectra of the adsorbate were performed using the results of Density Functional Theory calculations of the Raman frequencies, which together with the SERS surface selection rules, allowed to infer the adsorption geometry of PPD(+) radical cation on both metallic surfaces. This work stress the investigation of redox processes involved in the molecular adsorption is imperative for the interpretation of the SERS results, which is even more important when copper surfaces are studied.