Table Of ContentRecent Advances in the
Science of Cannabis
Recent Advances in the
Science of Cannabis
Edited by
Robert M. Strongin, Jiries Meehan-Atrash,
and Monica Vialpando
First edition published 2022
by CRC Press
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ISBN: 978-0-367-22442-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-11959-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-27489-3 (ebk)
DOI: 10.1201/9780429274893
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Contents
Preface......................................................................................................................vii
Editors .......................................................................................................................ix
Contributors ..............................................................................................................xi
Chapter 1 Cultivation Stress Techniques and the Production of Secondary
Metabolites in Cannabis sativa ............................................................1
Callie Seaman
Chapter 2 Aroma in Cannabis: A Foundation for Chemotype Classification ....31
John S. Abrams, William J. T. Ellyson, Victor J. Gomez, and
Jean L. Talleyrand
Chapter 3 Cannabinoid Chemistry of Cannabis .................................................49
David Dawson and Markus Roggen
Chapter 4 Use of Mass Spectrometry for the Analysis of Cannabis
sativa spp. .......................................................................................79
Allegra Leghissa and Zacariah L. Hildenbrand
Chapter 5 New Trends in the Analysis of Cannabis-Based Products ...............111
Laura Mercolini, Roberto Mandrioli and Michele Protti
Chapter 6 Cannabis Microbial Testing: Methodologies and Considerations ....131
Kyle Boyar
Chapter 7 Cannabis Extract Formulations and Devices ...................................161
Brad Douglass and Robert M. Strongin
Chapter 8 Transdermal Delivery .......................................................................193
Jessica Painter, Carolyn Burek, and Monica Vialpando
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vi Contents
Chapter 9 Thermal Degradation of Cannabinoids and Cannabis Terpenes:
A Review ..........................................................................................215
Jiries Meehan-Atrash and Robert M. Strongin
Chapter 10 Cannabis Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics .....................235
Ted W. Simon
Index ......................................................................................................................267
Preface
On behalf of my two co-editors, Dr. Jiries Meehan-Atrash and Dr. Monica Vialpando,
we hope you find this book to be a valuable resource, regardless of your level of
expertise in the cannabis field. This volume was conceived during the 2019–2020
EVALI outbreak, and was completed during the Covid era. I first met Jiries sev-
eral years earlier, when he inquired about earning his doctoral degree in organic
chemistry in my research group. I already had an ongoing project focused on ENDS
(electronic nicotine delivery systems) chemistry, and it was a logical transition for
us to investigate cannabis extracts and vaping, which were becoming increasingly
prevalent. Jiries and I soon published the first papers on the chemistry of vaping and
dabbing terpenes, cannabinoids, and concentrated THC formulations. Apart from
being a brilliant and dedicated scientist, it turns out that Jiries was also a talented
and experienced science writer, and was thus an obvious choice to co-edit this book.
After our first paper in the cannabis field was published in 2017, Nigam Arora (to
whom I will always be indebted), invited me to give a talk at an upcoming American
Chemical Society (ACS) meeting in the Cannabis Chemistry Subdivision (CANN)
session. Soon after the meeting, Nigam introduced me to Monica Vialpando, another
ACS CANN co-organizer. Monica turned out to be one of the most dynamic innova-
tors and entrepreneurs that I have ever met. She is a leading expert in formulations
for vaping, oral and topical products. We had much in common in that Monica also
had extensive prior experience in the tobacco vaping field, but from the industry
side. During the EVALI outbreak, there was a relatively high degree of misinforma-
tion and uncertainty surrounding the emerging cannabis field. We thus felt that a
timely, new contribution highlighting evidence-based studies and ongoing scientific
research was needed. This is what motivated the creation of this book.
The cannabis science field is currently too broad and too dynamic to allow for
coverage of all significant and timely areas of interest in just one volume. However,
the reader will find a diverse collection of important current topics herein, with
contributions from leading experts from both academia and industry. The first five
chapters cover cultivation toward optimizing the production of medicinally relevant
secondary metabolites, the relationship between cannabis aroma, chemotypes, and
pharmacology, an extensive overview of classical as well as new and unique cannabi-
noid structures, and cannabis analytical chemistry with a focus on mass spectrome-
try, chromatographic techniques, and sample processing. Chapters 6–10 cover issues
in microbial testing, cannabis extract vaping and associated potential public health
and regulatory issues, the science of transdermal delivery of cannabinoids, cannabis
vaping chemistry, and cannabinoid pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
We would like to thank Carolyn Burek, who helped us greatly early on with edit-
ing. A very special thanks goes to Jessica Painter whose effort and dedication to
this effort were invaluable, and at times, bordering on the heroic. Finally, we owe a
vii
viii Preface
great deal of gratitude to the contributing authors of each chapter. Writing a quality
book chapter of course requires a non-trivial effort, and takes precious time away
from one’s busy career. We deeply appreciate all of you. Without your hard work and
timely contributions this book would not have been possible.
Professor Robert M. Strongin
Portland, Oregon
Editors
Robert M. Strongin is a Professor of Organic Chemistry at Portland State University.
He has studied the chemistry of vaping since 2013. He has been interested in deter-
mining how flavorings, including terpenes and other vape constituents, react and
degrade when heated and aerosolized. In 2017 he began to investigate cannabis vap-
ing and published the first peer-reviewed reports on the specific byproducts formed
when dabbing terpenes, and, more recently, on the reactions and products that form
upon vaping and dabbing concentrated cannabis oil mixtures. Dr. Strongin runs an
internationally recognized research program, is a founder of two biotech startup
companies, and is known for his contributions to STEM education. In addition to
tobacco control and cannabis science, he is an expert in the field of biosensors and
targeted molecular probes for imaging cancer tissue.
Jiries Meehan-Atrash graduated from the State University of New York at New
Paltz with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 2014 and in 2021 earned his PhD in
Chemistry from Portland State University after studying e-cigarette aerosol chemis-
try and analytical methods under the mentorship of Dr. Robert M. Strongin. Jiries is
currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Rochester Medical Center in the
laboratory of Dr. Irfan Rahman.
Monica Vialpando is a pharmaceutically trained product development scientist,
specializing in the formulation of poorly water-soluble drugs. As founder and CEO
of Via Innovations, a bespoke product development company, she integrates this
background with plant-based medicines to create fit-for-purpose designed products.
In addition to her entrepreneurial endeavors, she is active in education and thought
leadership and often focuses on cannabis-based strategies to support women’s health,
and is a scientific advisor to multiple organizations. With a passion for diversity and
global connection, Dr. Vialpando’s reach extends beyond typical barriers to collabo-
rate with international experts and companies. She also leverages this throughout
her company to design their differentiated products through the integration of plant-
based medicines, science, technology, and art.
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