| Potential reason for presence as impurity or additive |
Frequency of occurrence No (%) |
Impurity found |
| Used in the production of MA using P2P |
50 (94.34) |
Acetic acid |
| Intermediate reagent in the production of MA by the Leuckart or reductive amination methods |
25 (47.17) |
Phenyl-2-propanone |
| Conversion of ephedrine to phenmetrazine at GC high temperature |
11 (20.75) |
Phenmetrazine |
| Cutting agent in the production of ATS |
10 (18.87) |
N,N-Dimethylamphetamine |
| Indicative of Leuckart route used for MA production |
| Used as precursor in MA synthesis |
10 (18.87) |
Pseudoephedrine |
| An intermediate in MA synthesis procedure from ephedrine and pseudoephedrine by Emde and Nagai methods |
9 (16.98) |
1,2-dimethyl-3-phenylaziridine |
| Starting material in the synthesis of |
5 (9.43) |
Benzaldehyde |
| P2P |
| Deliberately added active pharmaceutical ingredient |
5 (9.43) |
Tramadol |
| Product of Nagai method, product of MA precipitation using acetic moiety |
3 (5.67) |
N-acetylmethamphetamine |
| Overlapping with areas of MA synthesis |
2 (3.77) |
Ecstasy |
| Produced as incomplete hydrolysis of MA in Leuckart reaction |
1 (1.89) |
N-Formylmethamphetamine |
| An intermediate in MA synthesis procedure from ephedrine and pseudoephedrine by Emde and Nagai methods |
1 (1.89) |
N-Benzyl 2-methylaziridine |
| ATS= Amphetamine- type stimulants; MA= Methamphetamine; P2P= Phenyl-2-propanone |
