Illicit preparations containing 4-methoxyamphetamine (PMA) or 4-methylthioamphetamine (MTA) were analysed using solid phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Key pyrimidines were detected in PMA preparations, indicating that the Leuckardt reaction on 4methoxyphenyl-2-propanone was the illicit route of manufacture. Further, it would appear that the 4methoxyphenyl-2-propanone was prepared in an illicit laboratory via a reductive mechanism, with the initial raw material being 4-methoxybenzaldehyde.

Pyrimidines were not detected in MTA preparations, therefore the origin of this drug is still unclear.

The indications are that SPME appears to be an efficient and rapid technique for the recovery of manufacturing impurities.