Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic piperidine opioid primarily used as an analgesic. It is 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine; its primary clinical utility is in pain management for cancer patients and those recovering from painful surgeries. Fentanyl is also used as a sedative. Depending on the method of delivery, fentanyl can be very fast acting and ingesting a relatively small quantity can cause overdose. Fentanyl works by activating μ-opioid receptors. Fentanyl is sold under the brand names Actiq, Duragesic, and Sublimaze, among others.
Glutethimide is a hypnotic sedative that was introduced by Ciba in 1954 as a safe alternative to barbiturates to treat insomnia. Before long, however, it had become clear that glutethimide was just as likely to cause addiction and caused similar withdrawal symptoms. Doriden was the brand-name version. Current production levels in the United States point to its use only in small-scale research. Manufacturing of the drug was discontinued in the US in 1993 and discontinued in several eastern European countries in 2006.
Alfentanil (R-39209), sold under the brand name Alfenta among others, is a potent but short-acting synthetic opioid analgesic drug used for anesthesia in surgery. It is an analogue of fentanyl with around one-fourth to one-tenth the potency, one-third the duration of action, and an onset of action four times faster than that of fentanyl. Alfentanil has a pKa of approximately 6.5, which leads to a very high proportion of the drug being uncharged at physiologic pH, a characteristic responsible for its rapid-onset. It is an agonist of the μ-opioid receptor.
Dihydromorphine is a semi-synthetic opioid structurally related to and derived from morphine. The 7,8-double bond in morphine is reduced to a single bond to get dihydromorphine. Dihydromorphine is a moderately strong analgesic and is used clinically in the treatment of pain and also is an active metabolite of the analgesic opioid drug dihydrocodeine. Dihydromorphine occurs in trace quantities in assays of opium on occasion, as does dihydrocodeine, dihydrothebaine, tetrahydrothebaine, etc. The process for manufacturing dihydromorphine from morphine for pharmaceutical use was developed in Germany in the late 19th century, with the synthesis being published in 1900 and the drug introduced clinically as Paramorfan shortly thereafter. A high-yield synthesis from tetrahydrothebaine was later developed.
Dextromoramide is a powerful opioid analgesic approximately three times more potent than morphine but shorter acting. It is subject to drug prohibition regimes, both internationally through UN treaties and by the criminal law of individual nations, and is usually prescribed only in the Netherlands.
Anileridine is a synthetic analgesic drug and is a member of the piperidine class of analgesic agents developed by Merck & Co. in the 1950s. It differs from pethidine (meperidine) in that the N-methyl group of meperidine is replaced by an N-aminophenethyl group, which increases its analgesic activity.
Levomethorphan (LVM) (INN, BAN) is an opioid analgesic of the morphinan family that has never been marketed. It is the L-stereoisomer of racemethorphan (methorphan). The effects of the two isomers of racemethorphan are quite different, with dextromethorphan (DXM) being an antitussive at low doses and a dissociative hallucinogen at much higher doses. Levomethorphan is about five times stronger than morphine.
Phenoperidine, is an opioid analgesic which is structurally related to pethidine and is used clinically as a general anesthetic.
Piritramide(R-3365, trade names Dipidolor, Piridolan, Pirium and others) is a synthetic opioid analgesic that is marketed in certain European countries including: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Germany and the Netherlands. It comes in free form, is about 0.75x times as potent as morphine and is given parenterally for the treatment of severe pain. Nausea, vomiting, respiratory depression and constipation are believed to be less frequent with piritramide than with morphine, and it produces more rapid-onset analgesia when compared to morphine and pethidine. After intravenous administration the onset of analgesia is as little as 1–2 minutes, which may be related to its great lipophilicity. The analgesic and sedative effects of piritramide are believed to be potentiated with phenothiazines and its emetic (nausea/vomiting-inducing) effects are suppressed. The volume of distribution is 0.7-1 L/kg after a single dose, 4.7-6 L/kg after steady-state concentrations are achieved and up to 11.1 L/kg after prolonged dosing.
Metopon is an opioid analogue that is a methylated derivative of hydromorphone which was invented in 1929 as an analgesic.
Diampromide is an opioid analgesic from the ampromide family of drugs, related to other drugs such as propiram and phenampromide. It was invented in the 1960s by American Cyanamid, and can be described as a ring-opened analogue of fentanyl.
Norpethidine is a 4-phenylpiperidine derivative that is both a precursor to, and the toxic metabolite of, pethidine (meperidine). It is scheduled by UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. It is a Schedule II Narcotic controlled substance in the United States and has an ACSCN of 9233. The 2014 annual manufacturing quota was 11 grams (0.39 oz).
Pethidinic acid is a 4-phenylpiperidine derivative that is both a metabolite of and a precursor to pethidine (meperidine). It is scheduled by UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. It is a Schedule II Narcotic controlled substance in the United States and has an ACSCN of 9234. The 2014 annual manufacturing quota was 6 grams.
Drug precursors, also referred to as precursor chemicals or simply precursors, are substances used to manufacture illicit drugs. Most precursors also have legitimate commercial uses and are legally used in a wide variety of industrial processes and consumer products, such as medicines, flavourings, and fragrances.
Codeine-N-oxide (genocodeine) is an active metabolite of codeine. It is an opiate listed as a Schedule I controlled substance. It has a DEA ACSCN of 9053 and its annual manufacturing quota for 2013 was 602 grams.
Acetylfentanyl is an opioid analgesic drug that is an analog of fentanyl. Studies have estimated acetylfentanyl to be 15 times more potent than morphine, which would mean that despite being somewhat weaker than fentanyl, it is nevertheless still several times stronger than pure heroin. It has never been licensed for medical use and instead has only been sold on the illicit drug market. Acetylfentanyl was discovered at the same time as fentanyl itself and had only rarely been encountered on the illicit market in the late 1980s. However, in 2013, Canadian police seized 3 kilograms of acetylfentanyl. As a μ-opioid receptor agonist, acetylfentanyl may serve as a direct substitute for oxycodone, heroin or other opioids. Common side effects of fentanyl analogs are similar to those of fentanyl itself, which include itching, nausea, and potentially fatal respiratory depression. Fentanyl analogs have killed hundreds of people throughout Europe and the former Soviet republics since the most recent resurgence in use began in Estonia in the early 2000s, and novel derivatives continue to appear.
4-ANPP, also known as 4-anilino-N-phenethylpiperidine (4-ANPP), 4-aminophenyl-1-phenethylpiperidine, or despropionyl fentanyl, is a direct precursor to fentanyl and acetylfentanyl. It is commonly found as a contaminant in samples of drugs containing fentanyl, which may include samples represented by the supplier as heroin or other opioids. It is not psychoactive and is present only as a result of improper chemical purification.
Thenylfentanyl is an analogue of fentanyl where the phenethylamine side-chain has been replaced by a thiophenylmethyl group. It was temporarily scheduled by the Drug Enforcement Administration in 1985, due to fears it would be used as a designer drug. But in 2010 the DEA acknowledged it was essentially inactive. Subsequently, the substance was since deregulated.
1-Boc-4-AP is a compound used as an intermediate in the manufacture of fentanyl, as well as various related derivatives such as butyrylfentanyl, furanylfentanyl, benzylfentanyl and homofentanyl, among others. It is an N-protected derivative of 4-anilinopiperidine which can be readily converted to fentanyl or related analogues in several straightforward synthetic steps. It was classified as a DEA List 1 Chemical in 2022, and is also controlled in various other jurisdictions. Its possession, sale and importation are consequently heavily regulated throughout much of the world. 1-Boc-4-AP has also been identified as an impurity in other designer drug products, though it is unclear if it has any pharmacological activity in its own right.
