Single Liquid-Liquid Extraction of Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and 11-<i>Nor</i>-Carboxy-Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol at an Acidic pH

<p>Because of the high occurrence of marijuana usage in the workplace and in driving under the influence cases, it is important to test for both delta-9-THC and delta-9-THCA in order to determine current and recent usage. The laboratory preparation and analysis of delta-9-THC and delta-9-THCA in urine should be as cost and time efficient as possible. Current extraction of delta-9-THC and delta-9-THCA from urine requires two separate techniques for each. Because delta-9-THC is nonacidic, while delta-9-THCA is acidic, the extractions involve two separate pH levels, while GC/MS analysis requires two separate methods. This separation requires a great deal of time and materials. This experiment focused on eliminating the need for two separate extractions and analyses of delta-9-THC and delta-9-THCA. Both were subjected to simultaneous acidic extraction with hexane:ethyl acetate (4: 1). An F-ratio test determined that the dual extraction of delta-9-THC and delta-9-THCA gave concentrations that had no significant differences. The F-ratio for delta-9-THC concentrations was 0.191, while the F-ratio for delta-9-THCA concentrations was 0.021. Both fell under the critical value was 5.08 for a 0.01 level of significance. This showed that the concentrations of delta-9-of F for the analysis of variance from the table which THC and delta-9-THCA calculated for each sample's three aliquots were all significantly similar.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Criminal Justice

Year dc:date.available

2012

Author dc:creator

• Tanner, Meghan Ann

Contributors dc:contributor

• Thomas Pittman
• Dean Bertram
• Kuppareddi Balamurugan

• Forensic Science and Technology
• Legal Studies
• Social and Behavioral Sciences

Repository record dc:identifier

https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/562

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:aquila.usm.edu:masters_theses-1637