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Analytical Chemistry

Tiny Device Detects Methamphetamines

Microcantilever deflection is sensitive enough to selectively detect drug molecules binding to a cavitand receptor

by Stu Borman
June 16, 2014 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 92, Issue 24

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Credit: Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.
Binding of MDMA (top right) to a microcantilever arm causes it to deflect (bottom), permitting the drug to be detected.
Binding of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine, top right) to arm of microcantilever causes it to deflect (bottom right), permitting drug to be detected.
Credit: Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.
Binding of MDMA (top right) to a microcantilever arm causes it to deflect (bottom), permitting the drug to be detected.

Methamphetamines are major drugs of abuse and are difficult to detect as a class of compounds. A variety of analytical techniques including chromatography-mass spectrometry can already detect these nervous system stimulants. But existing tests often require long operation time and difficult sample preparation steps and generally detect specific compounds rather than the entire family. A group led by Paolo Bergese of the University of Brescia and Enrico Dalcanale of the University of Parma, both in Italy, has now made a start toward developing a relatively simple device that could make it possible to rapidly detect methamphetamines as a class in water (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201404774). The device is based on a tetraphosphonate cavitand receptor, which binds the +NH2CH3 group present in all methamphetamine salts with high selectivity. A derivatized version of the cavitand is grafted onto the face of a silicon microcantilever. Drugs from a solution in contact with the microcantilever bind to the cavitand and cause the microcantilever to deflect. Using a laser beam to record the deflections enables the drugs to be detected. The device, which tested well with real street samples, could lead to a sensor for screening illicit drugs.

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