Basic Principles of Forensic Chemistry JaVed I. Khan • Thomas J. Kennedy Donnell R. Christian, Jr. Basic Principles of Forensic Chemistry JaVed I. Khan Donnell R. Christian, Jr. U.S. Crime Laboratory Criminalist.us California Department of Justice Professional Business Solutions Riverside, CA, USA Chesterfi eld, VA, USA [email protected] [email protected] Thomas J. Kennedy Department of Chemistry Victor Valley Community College Victorville, CA, USA [email protected] ISBN 978-1-934115-06-0 e-ISBN 978-1-59745-437-7 DOI 10.1007/978-1-59745-437-7 Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London Library of Congress Control Number: 2011937225 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Humana Press, c/o Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identifi ed as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper Humana Press is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) This book is dedicated to the students and teachers in the fi eld of forensic sciences. JaVed I. Khan To my family: Tammy, Breanna, McKenna, and Holden. This work is dedicated to each of you for the sacrifi ces you have made. Thank you for enduring the long hours, you are my inspiration, and I love you all very much!! For my mother, Nancy, and my sister, Susan. Thank you for your love, guidance, and support for so many years. It is the foundation that drives me to be a better man. I love you. Thomas J. Kennedy To my parents and my wife Stephanie. Donnell R. Christian, Jr. Foreword Forensic chemistry was once the foundation of the crime laboratory. The modern forensic laboratory seems to be drifting away from its traditional roots, with the introduction of DNA evidence and the plethora of forensic shows on television. Emphasis in biology has replaced chemistry with serological and biological examinations. Degrees in forensic science have been created to address the demand created by the CSI culture. However, forensic chemistry remains the backbone of the modern forensic laboratory. I was once asked how I would council a person seeking a degree in forensic science. I refl ected on the words of my mentor, my own personal experience with a degree in criminalistics, and the employment prospects for new graduates with a degree in forensic science as I formulated my response. I responded that I would advise them against seeking a degree in forensic science. Unfortunately, that was not the response the selection committee wanted to hear. This may seem an odd opening for a book foreword. However, the issues that factored into my response have been incorporated into this text. My mentor believed that he was not a science teacher. He would teach me how to apply the science I knew to the analysis of physical evidence. He was not going to waste his time teaching me things I should have learned in college. He was a brilliant man and could teach anyone to do the analysis, given enough time. He knew that it requires a scientist to understand how the analysis functions. He wanted to develop an examiner’s mind to be able to solve a problem, not train a technician to push buttons. A background in science is essential to work as a forensic examiner. The minimum require- ment for most entry-level forensic laboratory positions is a degree in a hard or physical science. It was not until recently that forensic science was added to the list of accepted degrees. Additionally, a demonstrable minimum number of credit hours in chemistry and physics is required as part of the applicant’s course work. These requirements are in place to ensure that an entry-level person had a basic understanding of science to build a forensic scientist from. Finally, my degree is in criminalistics. In the early 1980s, no one knew what a criminalist or a forensic scientist was. Because a degree in chemistry was a requirement, every job appli- cation had a letter from the Chemistry Department Chairman stating that I had the equivalent course work to an ACS-certifi ed degree in chemistry. This was in addition to a copy of my college transcripts. This rambling story does relate to Basic Principles of Forensic Chemistry . It has to do with the way the book is organized. Basic Principles of Forensic Chemistry is designed to develop the student’s understanding of forensic chemistry in a sequential manner. Basic chemistry principles are established. Generic examination techniques are presented followed by specifi c applications. Each section builds on the information developed in the previous sections. The focus of Basic Principles of Forensic Chemistry is on the analysis of controlled substances, specifi cally drugs of abuse. However, it provides all of the conceptual information used in any forensic chemistry section of a modern forensic laboratory. The science and the examination techniques discussed are as applicable to the analysis of drugs as they are to trace evidence. vii viii Foreword Specifi c reagents may change or sample preparation techniques may be modifi ed, but the concepts are interchangeable. Part I lays the scientifi c foundation that the examiner needs to understand the science of analysis. The information in Part I reviews basic principles of chemistry beginning with atomic structure and expanding through molecules and into organic chemistry. The section is intended to be a review of chemistry basics, not a replacement for formal class work. Part II discusses the tools used by all examiners in the forensic chemistry section. Chapters 5 and 6 establish the terminology and paperwork fl ow common to all forensic chemistry sec- tions. The following chapters discuss analytical techniques. Each chapter begins with generic theory and follows it with drug-analysis applications. Chapters 7 through 9 discuss the use of nonspecifi c tests and sample preparation techniques that are used as part of the screening pro- cess. Each section presents the basis for the examinations followed by sections of practical application. Chapters 10 and 11 address the instrumentation frequently used by drug chemists to confi rm the identity of the controlled substance indicated by the screening process. The fol- lowing Chaps. 8 and 9 are theoretical discussions on practical application. Additionally, the strengths and weaknesses of each instrument are addressed. Part III deals with the job at hand, specifi cally the different types of controlled substances encountered by forensic drug chemists. This section divides the controlled substances into generic categories based on structural similarities. Each chapter addresses the drugs most fre- quently encountered in the group under discussion. In turn, a brief history of topic drugs is provided along with pharmacological information and the analytical techniques used to iden- tify them. Part IV concentrates on the most challenging portion of a forensic drug chemist’s job, clan- destine laboratory operations. These operations force the forensic chemist out of the clinical analytical mindset. This type of analysis requires the chemist to utilize his knowledge of chem- istry (Part I), combine it with analytical tools (Part II), and understand drugs of abuse (Part III). These examinations allow the drug chemist to use all the tools in his toolbox, along with deductive reasoning, to objectively examine and evaluate the data from evidence obtained from suspected clandestine drug labs. As you can see, Basic Principles of Forensic Chemistry is a process. A foundation of chemi- cal knowledge supports an analytical scheme. The tools from the analytical toolbox are used to initially identify a generic class of drug followed by a specifi c compound identifi cation. Finally, the chemist’s complete knowledge base and power of deductive reasoning are used to bring calm from the chaos of the evidence obtained from clandestine lab operations. Basic Principles of Forensic Chemistry will not turn the reader into a forensic chemist. However, it will provide the fundamental knowledge required to begin a very rewarding journey. Good luck on your journey. Chesterfi eld, VA Donnell R. Christian, Jr. Preface I have not reinvented the wheel on forensic chemistry in this book. This book is merely an effort to consolidate previously developed, yet scattered, forensic chemistry-related informa- tion under one umbrella. I used all reliable resources that my predecessors and contemporary experts in the fi eld of forensic chemistry have developed. For this reason, I consider myself an editor rather than an author of this book. The material presented is very basic and is not intended or recommended for legislative use. Primarily, this book is a milestone textbook toward teaching forensic chemistry at colleges and universities. Second, it is the fi rst major, consolidated resource book for forensic laborato- ries throughout the country and overseas to train newly hired staff in controlled substance examination. I have developed a parallel laboratory manual with the book. The laboratory manual has 17 experiments that are exclusively designed to provide initial training to students and trainees of forensic chemistry. I also have developed an instructional PowerPoint presenta- tion to assist instructors when teaching this course. This presentation is available to instructors at no extra cost.