Vibrational investigation of the 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone designer drug

Abstract

One of the most important synthetic cathinones, which is a popular family of designer drugs,  is 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV). This β-keto phenylalkylamine, which represents a derivative of the natural alkaloid cathinone found in the Catha edulis plant, was detected for the first time in 2007 in Japan and was classified by the Drug Enforcement Agency of the United States (DEA) as a Schedule I drug [1-3]. This paper presents a broad vibrational characterization of MDPV, by using IR spectroscopy combined with Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. The basis of the quantum mechanical calculations performed, in the ground state, was the B3LYP hybrid functional with 6-311G (d, p). The evaluation of the vibrational frequencies was performed by analyzing the energy secondary derivatives, which were determined on the basis of harmonization. The process led to detailed vibrational allocations of the absorption bands, which were performed on the basis of the potential energy distribution (PED). The proposed method has led to a very good agreement between the computed and the experimental frequencies.