CHED 407 |
| Raman spectroscopy holds the promise of a rapid, non-invasive method for dry detection in complex mixtures. Frequently there are multiple compounds present in confiscated illicit drug samples. This occurs because many drug dealers cut their drugs with similar looking materials such as baby formula. This research focuses on determining an optimal technique for analyzing illicit drug mixtures using Raman spectroscopy. 108 samples, each containing one drug surrogate and one or two cutting agents were collected using a home built system. The drug surrogates include benzocaine, isoxsuprine, lidocaine, and norephedrine while corn starch and baking soda were used for cutting agents. These spectra were the training set used to develop a chemometric model. To prepare the data for analysis several preprocessing techniques were employed, including averaging the trials and then mean centering the data. The model was derived using principle component analysis followed by linear regression. |
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Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Chemical Education
11:00 AM-1:00 PM, Monday, March 26, 2007 Hyatt Regency Chicago -- Riverside Center, Poster
Division of Chemical Education |