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Development of a microfluidic device for the visual detection of scopolamine in adulterated beverages

Doctoral student:
Ohiana Díaz-Cantos (Sobresaliente)
Year:
2023
University:
University of the basque Country
Director(s):
Enrique Azuaje & Fernando Benito-Lopez
Description:

The use of drug-facilitated sexual assault and abuse is a serious crime. It involves the use of drugs or other substances to incapacitate or manipulate someone for the purpose of sexual assault. One of the most used drugs in these crimes is scopolamine, commonly known as “burundanga”. The objective of this project is to test and optimize a colorimetric reaction for the detection of scopolamine, which can be integrated into autonomous microfluidic devices, enabling the naked-eye detection of scopolamine in adulterated beverages. For this, three different colorimetric reaction strategies for the detection of scopolamine are investigated. First, a redox reaction based on the use of KMnO4. Second, a strategy based on acetylcholine with the muscarinic receptor 3, for the indirect detection of scopolamine. Finally, a third strategy based on the well-known Scott´s reaction, which consists in the formation of a complex of scopolamine with cobalt (II) thiocyanate in an acid medium. With the third strategy, which was integrated into a microfluidic device, a scopolamine concentration between 0.5 and 2 mg mL-1 could be easily distinguished by naked-eye, and a concentration as low as 0.4 mg mL-1 could be detected trough image analysis.