A fatal poisoning involving Bromo-Dragonfly Mette Findal Andreasen a, *, Rasmus Telving a , Rune Isak Dupont Birkler a , Bente Schumacher b , Mogens Johannsen a a Section for Toxicology and Drug Analysis, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Aarhus, Brendstrupgaardsvej 100, DK-8200 Aarhus N, Denmark b Section for Forensic Pathology and Clinical Forensic Medicine, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Aarhus, Brendstrupgaardsvej 100, DK-8200 Aarhus N, Denmark 1. Introduction The consumption of synthetic drugs, usually of the phenethy- lamine class, has increased over the last decade and has become a serious public health problem in many European countries (http:// www.emcdda.europa.eu/). These drugs are often synthesized illegally in underground laboratories, where new variants may be produced by modifying the molecular structure of a known stimulant or hallucinogenic compound (e.g., amphetamine or different tryptamines). These novel designer drugs often have pharmacological properties very different from their chemical cousins [1]. Bromo-Dragonfly is one of these new substances on the drug market, and the first reports of its consumption appeared in 2005–2006 on informal internet pages. Bromo-Dragonfly is the common name for 1-(8-bromobenzo[1,2-b; 4,5-b 0 ]difuran-4-yl)-2- aminopropane (Fig. 1). Structurally, it is closely related to phenylethylamines like 2C-B (4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethyla- mine) and DOB (2,5-dimethoxy-4-bromoamphetamine). Its synth- esis and potency as an agonist of the serotonin 5-HT 2A receptor were described in 1998 [2]. It is considered a potent hallucinogen, only slightly less potent than LSD, and it has a very long duration of action. Bromo-Dragonfly has a single stereocenter, and R-()-Bromo- Dragonfly is the more active stereoisomer [3]. The drug has recently entered the Scandinavian drug scene, and herein we describe the first death related to the intake of Bromo-Dragonfly in Denmark. In addition to the death detailed in this report, two other deaths presumably related to the intake of Bromo-Dragonfly have appeared in Scandinavia during 2007 [4]. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the identification and quantification of Bromo-Dragonfly in a biological specimen from a deceased person. 2. Case history In the present case, an 18-year-old woman was found dead after ingestion of a hallucinogenic LSD-like liquid. The woman and her boyfriend had presumably both ingested around 1 mL of the liquid on the preceding evening (between 10 and 11 pm), and their intention was to have sex during the high. At 12 pm they started feeling the ‘‘LSD-trip’’. However, they both fell asleep, and when the boyfriend woke up at 5 am the following morning, he found his Forensic Science International 183 (2009) 91–96 ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 27 May 2008 Received in revised form 31 October 2008 Accepted 3 November 2008 Available online 17 December 2008 Keywords: Bromo-Dragonfly LC–MS/MS UPLC–TOFMS Intoxication ABSTRACT This paper reports a fatal overdose case involving the potent hallucinogenic drug Bromo-Dragonfly (1-(8- bromobenzo[1,2-b; 4,5-b 0 ]difuran-4-yl)-2-aminopropane). In the present case, an 18-year-old woman was found dead after ingestion of a hallucinogenic liquid. A medico-legal autopsy was performed on the deceased, during which liver, blood, urine and vitreous humour were submitted for toxicological examination. Bromo-Dragonfly was identified in the liver blood using UPLC–TOFMS, and was subsequently quantified in femoral blood (0.0047 mg/kg), urine (0.033 mg/kg) and vitreous humour (0.0005 mg/kg) using LC–MS/MS. Calibration standards were prepared from Bromo-Dragonfly isolated from a bottle found next to the deceased. The structure and purity of the isolated compound were unambiguously determined from analysis of UPLC–TOFMS, GC–MS, HPLC–DAD, 1 H and 13 C NMR data and by comparison to literature data. The autopsy findings were non-specific for acute poisoning. However, based on the toxicological findings, the cause of death was determined to be a fatal overdose of Bromo-Dragonfly, as no ethanol and no therapeutics or other drugs of abuse besides Bromo-Dragonfly were detected in the liver, blood or urine samples from the deceased. To our knowledge, this is the first report of quantification of Bromo- Dragonfly in a biological specimen from a deceased person. This case caused the drug to be classified as an illegal drug in Denmark on 5th December 2007. ß 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +45 89429844; fax: +45 86175003. E-mail address: mfa@forensic.au.dk (M.F. Andreasen). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Forensic Science International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/forsciint 0379-0738/$ – see front matter ß 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2008.11.001