Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: CRISTIANE CARDOSO DOS SANTOS

EVALUATION OF THE CHEMICAL PROFILE OF COCAINE SAMPLES SEIZED IN PRISONS

IN THE STATE OF RIO DE JANEIRO

Cocaine, Adulterants, GC-MS, Chemometrics

Cocaine is one of the main alkaloid compounds found in the leaves of plants of the genus Erythroxylum and it corresponds to 75% of the total alkaloids (0.5 to 1.5%) found in the leaves of these species. Many adulterants and diluents can be added during the production stages of this narcotic, to increase the volume of the product and, consequently, the profit. Diluents are generally inert substances used only to promote greater volume and increase drug yield. Adulterants are organic substances with pharmacological effects similar to cocaine. The analytical information obtained through the analysis of a sample of cocaine seized is important for: police intelligence investigations, elucidating the route of the drug from its origin to the end user and identifying the presence/type of contaminants. Purity of cocaine and identify and quantify the adulterants and diluents of drugs seized in prisons (Gericinó, Japeri and/or Benfica) using analytical techniques, such as: Gas chromatography (GC-MS and CG-FID), RAMAN, FTIR and NMR, in addition to multivariate analysis applied to the results obtained.