Chem143 Lab 8 Martin Case Corinne Sadlowski Extraction of Cocaine from Banknotes http en wikipedia org wiki Gas chromatography mass spectrometry http news nationalgeographic com news 2009 08 090816 cocaine money html http www wsearch com au wsearch32 wsearch32 htm Write up for this lab to be completed on 11 10 and 11 12 Reagents and Equipment Dichloromethane 2 mL Banknotes any denomination Test tubes GCMS vials Disposable pipettes Purpose In Labs 5 and 6 you used gas chromatography GC to analyze the product s of reactions Although this technique gives a good measure of product purity the product identity can only be corroborated if the researcher has an authentic sample to compare retention times A more powerful analysis can be performed by attaching a mass spectrometer to the GC The resulting gas chromatograph mass spectrometer GCMS not only separates products like a GC it also measures the molecular weight of the eluting fractions Consequently no standards are required and product identity can be confirmed independently This lab provides an introduction to GCMS by analyzing banknotes for the presence of cocaine The Department only has one GCMS machine so your samples will be queued and run overnight You will receive your data the following day via UVM s file transfer system To analyze your data you will need to download the Wsearch32 program from http www wsearch com au wsearch32 wsearch32 htm The program is free and will run on pre Vista Windows systems Experimental Procedure 1 Record the denomination of your banknote Tightly roll the note and place it in a test tube Add about 1 mL of dichloromethane about a pipette full to the test tube stopper and vigorously shake Pipette the resultant liquid into a new test tube Add another 1 mL of dichloromethane to the test tube containing the banknote stopper and shake again Add this liquid to the test tube containing the previously extracted liquid Note the color of the collected liquids and if there are any suspended solids Using a pipette remove an aliquot of the combined extractions and place in a GCMS vial 1 Chem143 Lab 8 Martin Case Corinne Sadlowski 2 Run a GCMS experiment with your TA A data file will be emailed to you which you can analyze on your own computer Determine if cocaine was present on your banknote comparing the amount to the largest peak present in your chromatogram Integrate the area under the peak to report the percent cocaine comparing it to the percentage of the largest peak What do you think this peak could be Discuss the results of your analysis in your lab report Write up Include a printout of your extracted ion chromatogram for cocaine If a standard is available calculate the amount of cocaine on your note Why do you think four out of five US banknotes show traces of cocaine Do you believe that this is a result of widespread cocaine abuse There are approximately 26 billion banknotes in circulation If four out of five show detectable cocaine and the average amount detected per bill is 10 g how much cocaine is circulating on our currency Waste disposal Dichloromethane is a toxic solvent and should be disposed of in the appropriate labeled waste container Pipettes should be disposed of as broken glass Used banknotes can be disposed of in Prof Case s mailbox outside the Chemistry office Safety Your pre lab should include a comprehensive safety assessment of the solvent used in this lab 2