Brephedrone: A new psychoactive substance seized in Brazil

- Brephedrone, a synthetic cathinone, was identified in street seized samples.
- Sample characterization was made using ATR-FTIR, GC-MS, LC-MS/MS and NMR.
- Brephedrone had never been reported in Brazil before this seizure.

At the beginning of 2015, sixty-two capsules containing red-brown crystals seized in a historical city in Brazil were sent to this forensic laboratory for drug testing analysis. The material was identified as being Brephedrone, a new psychoactive substance and a bromine synthetic cathinone that is related to serotonin transportation. This substance was analyzed by ATR-FTIR, GC-MS, LC-MS, 1H, 13C and 2D NMR. Brephedrone apprehensions have been previously reported in Finland, France and Spain. It was the first detection of this substance in the State of Minas Gerais. No reports or information regarding any other apprehension nor identification of Brephedrone in Brazil were known prior to the present case.