Correlation between the synthetic origin of methamphetamine samples and their 15N and 13C stable isotope ratios

The active ingredient of ecstasy, N-methyl-3,4-methyldioxyphenylisopropylamine (MDMA) can be manufactured by a number of easy routes from simple precursors. We have synthesised 45 samples of MDMA following the five most common routes using N-precursors from 12 different origins and three different precursors for the aromatic moiety. The ¹³C and ¹⁵N contents of both the precursors and the MDMA samples derived therefrom were measured by isotope ratio mass spectrometry coupled to an elemental analyser (EA-IRMS). We show that within-pathway correlation between the ¹⁵N content of the precursor and that of the derived MDMA can be strong but that no general pattern of correlation can be defined. Rather, it is evident that the δ¹⁵N values of MDMA are strongly influenced by a combination of the δ¹⁵N values of the source of nitrogen used, the route by which the MDMA is synthesised, and the experimental conditions employed. Multivariate analysis (PCA) based on the δ¹⁵N values of the synthetic MDMA and of the δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C values of the N-precursors leads to good discrimination between the majority of the reaction conditions tested.