Coca leaf

The main advantages of the ms/ms systems are related to the sensitivity and selectivity they provide. Two mass analyzers in tandem significantly enhance selectivity. Thus samples in very complex matrices can be characterized quickly with Htde or no sample clean-up. Direct introduction of samples such as coca leaves or urine into an ms or even a gc/lc/ms system requires a clean-up step that is not needed in tandem mass spectrometry (28,29). Adding the sensitivity of the electron multiplier to this type of selectivity makes ms/ms a powerhil analytical tool, indeed. It should be noted that introduction of very complex materials increases the frequency of ion source cleaning compared to single-stage instmments where sample clean-up is done first. 

The liabitat of Erythroxylon spp. is principally the western side of Soutl America, and although indigenous species occur in India, Africa anc Australia, they have no economic value. Two kinds of coca leaves ar< available in commerce, Bolivian or Huanuco leaves derived from E. coce Lam. and Peruvian or Truxillo leaves obtained from E. truxillense Rusby both are cultivated in Java. In South America coca leaves are chewee with lime by the Indians as a stimulant, and are exported to Europe foi use in medicine and for the preparation of cocaine, but the prineipal sourc< of coca leaves is Java. Crude cocaine is manufactured in South Americi and exported for refining and some aspects of this industry have beei discussed recently. ... 

Truxillines, CggH4jOgN2. In 1887 Hesse isolated from Peruvian coca leaves an amorphous alkaloid which he named cocamine a year later Liebermann examined this material, and by fractioimtion of its solutions by addition of petroleum proved it to be a mixture of at least two isomeric bases, which he named a- and jS-truxillines. The pure alkaloids have not been obtained from coca leaves owing to the difficulty of separating them, but each has been prepared synthetically. ... 

Tropacocaine (Benzoyl-ili-tropeine), CuHj gOgN, was discovered by Giesel in Java coca leaves and has since been found in Peruvian coca. Its preparation from the former source has been described by Hara and Sakamoto, It crystallises in needles, m.p. 49°, is insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol, ether or dilute ammonia and is generally prepared by benzoylating /t-tropine, and purified as the hydrochloride. Its alcoholic solution is alkaline and optically inactive. The hydrochloride forms needles, m.p. 271° (dec.), and the hydrobromide leaflets. The aurichloride separates in minute yellow needles, m.p. 208°, from hot aqueous solutions the picrate has m.p. 238-9°. When heated with hydrochloric acid or baryta water the alkaloid is hydrolysed to benzoic acid and -tropine. ... 

Troger and Schwarzenberg have isolated a base (m.p. 53°, b.p. 225-30° picrate, m.p. 237° (dec.) ) isomeric with tropine and 4-tropinc, from coca leaves. 

Clematis angitslifolia, 780 Coca leaves, alkaloids, 92 Cocaethyline, 96 Cocaine, 79, 92, 93, 99, 100 detection, 94 homologues, 90... 

Tropane Group. SolanaceOus Alkaloids, Convolvine and Allied Alkaloids, Dioscorine, Alkaloids of Coca Leaves (Erythroxylon coca). ... 

Another of the main systemic routes is oral (Table 3.2). Sometimes raw plant material is chewed in order to release the psychoactive compound into the mouth cavity. Examples include the chewing of coca leaves to extract cocaine (Chapter 4) and the tobacco leaf to extract nicotine (Chapter 5). The problem with this is that many other plant chemicals remain in the mouth, and many of these are carcinogenic. Tobacco leaf chewing leads to oral cancers of the mouth, lips, jaw and tongue, often... 

Alkaloids are compounds that contain nitrogen in a heterocyclic ring and are commonly found in about 15-20% of all vascular plants. Alkaloids are subclassified on the basis of the chemical type of their nitrogen-containing ring. They are formed as secondary metabolites from amino acids and usually present a bitter taste accompanied by toxicity that should help to repel insects and herbivores. Alkaloids are found in seeds, leaves, and roots of plants such as coffee beans, guarana seeds, cocoa beans, mate tea leaves, peppermint leaves, coca leaves, and many other plant sources. The most common alkaloids are caffeine, theophylline, nicotine, codeine, and indole... 

Brachet A, Christen P and Veuthey J. 2002. Focused microwave-assisted extraction of cocaine and ben-zoylecgonine from coca leaves. Phytochem Anal 13(3) 162-169. 

The amount of cuscohygrine is the main difference between the two commercial varieties of coca leaves Erythroxylum coca Lam. var. coca and var. spru-ceanum (Erythroxylaceae). Coca leaves collected in Bolivia and in Peru have cuscohygrine as the main alkaloid besides cocaine, whereas the opposite situation occurs with material collected in Java (35). 

The Peruvian coca leaves, because of their richness, are commonly used in the extraction process as described in 1 or 2. When the dried coca leaves have a low cocaine content, the ecgonine process is preferred. Normally, it takes approximately 100 pounds of dried leaves to produce one pound of cocaine. 

Cultivates, harvests and sells dried coca leaves to clandestine labs at a price of from 1 to 3 per kilo. 

Extract cocaine from the dried coca leaves and sell pure cocaine to the wholesaler at a price of 3,000 per kilo realizing a profit of approximately 2,500 per kilo. 

Coca leaves and cocaine hydrochloride. Above, an unusual crystalline form below cocaine as it usually appears on the illicit market. 

The importance of pharmacokinetics should not be underestimated. The effects of psychoactive drugs are determined not only by their pharmacodynamic mechanisms, but also by how much of the drug reaches the brain, and how fast it does so. A cardinal example of this involves the behavioral differences between chewing coca leaves, snorting cocaine... 

There is perhaps no better illustration of the impact of the route of administration than the sad story of cocaine. For centuries, coca leaves were chewed by the indigenous peoples of South America for a boost of energy while working in... 

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