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A team from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) has led the development of a new sensor capable of quickly and easily detecting scopolamine, one of the substances most commonly used in crimes of chemical submission, especially in sexual assaults. The sensor detects the presence of this drug in less than five minutes with high sensitivity. Its results are published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

'Scopolamine is a substance that is difficult to detect using conventional methods, especially when found in drinks. For this reason, our group from the IDM Institute at the UPV set out to develop new, simple tools that can immediately alert us to its presence,' says Vicente Martí Centelles, a researcher at the Interuniversity Research Institute for Molecular Recognition and Technological Development (IDM) at the UPV.

If the drug is present, it generates an intense fluorescent light

According to Ramón Martínez Máñez, director of the IDM Institute, the sensor works in a very simple way. When the drug comes into contact with the sensor, a reaction occurs that releases a fluorescent substance. This release generates a very clear light signal, the intensity of which is proportional to the amount of scopolamine present.

'The more scopolamine there is, the more fluorescent the signal becomes, allowing not only its presence to be detected, but also its quantity to be estimated. And all this in less than five minutes. Furthermore, the system does not require complex equipment or highly specialised personnel, which facilitates its potential use in police, forensic or preventive control environments,' emphasises the UPV researcher.

A sophisticated chemical design that detects the slightest presence of drugs

The sensor developed by UPV researchers is based on a 'molecular cage', a chemical structure designed to recognise and trap specific molecules. In this case, the molecular cage has been designed to interact with and trap scopolamine in a highly selective manner.

One of the most innovative aspects of the system is the sophistication of its chemical design. The molecular cage adopts a unique arrangement that is key to the drug detection process, working with great precision. 'This is what allows our sensor to detect extremely low amounts of drugs and makes it particularly useful for the rapid analysis of suspected substances, both in preventive contexts and after a possible assault,' says Giovanni Montà-González.

'We are currently working on the development of a device that incorporates the sensor for the detection of scopolamine in various environments such as drinks, urine, saliva, etc.,' comment Eva Garrido and Estela Climent, co-authors of the paper.

The development also involved the CIBER for Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN), the UPV-CIPF Joint Research Unit on Mechanisms of Disease and Nanomedicine, and the UPV-IIS La Fe Joint Research Unit on Nanomedicine and Sensors, with the collaboration of Cristian Vicent from the central services of Scientific Instrumentation at the Universitat Jaume I.

The research team is already working on the development of similar sensors for detecting other illicit drugs.