Objective: Paper currencies often have trace amounts of cocaine that show up when they are analyzed. One study showed that up to 90% of paper currency in the United States of America had traces of cocaine1. The purpose of this experiment is to use two different extraction methods, gas chromatography, and mass spectroscopy. The two methods of extraction are liquid-liquid extraction and solid phase extraction. They will be analyzed to see which method produces better GC/MS results. The samples from both extraction methods will have an internal standard of caffeine included in order to correct for any difference in the preparation of the samples2. Instruments: The main instrument chosen for this lab was the gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy machine. The instrument was chosen for its ability to separate and identify compounds in a mixture. The gas chromatography will provide information on the compounds in the form of peaks that show the concentration of each compound. The mass spectrum will show the molecular ions and fragments created which helps identify each of the compounds2. Discussion: …show more content…
The GC/MS data from the liquid-liquid sample and solid phase sample was not usable which resulted in table one remaining incomplete. The R2 value for the calibration curve without the caffeine internal standard was very good at 0.99. The R2 value for the calibration curve with the caffeine internal standard was good but not quite as precise as without at a value of 0.9752. Due to the lack of data the concentration of cocaine on the bills cannot be determined. The extraction methods can also not be compared without data. Figure 3 shows the mass spectrum from the liquid sample along with the first hit from the software’s database. This helps to confirm the presence of cocaine in the