Fentanyl is a powerful incapacitant that is used medicinally as a pain reliever and anesthetic during perioperative clinical procedures. In addition to its legitimate uses, illegal manufacture of fentanyl and its equally or more powerful analogues has been widely reported. This study investigates the use of light stable isotope compositions of carbon (13C/12C) and nitrogen (15N/14N) for distinguishing fentanyl samples and unambiguously linking a given fentanyl sample to the nitrogen-bearing precursors employed for its synthesis. Stable isotope analyses of chemical threat agents (CTAs) show great promise for providing distinctive signatures that can be used to distinguish between multiple sources of material collected as evidence. Stable isotope signatures provide valuable evidence for the association of two samples if it can be demonstrated that significant variation exists in the commercially available precursor materials. To establish whether stable isotope signatures provide valuable evidence for fentanyl, we have: 1) procured a library of aniline and 4,4-piperidinediol hydrochloride precursors, 2) measured the stable isotope variations in those precursors, 3) measured the stable isotope composition of fentanyl synthesized using precursors with a wide range of different isotopic compositions, and 4) evaluated whether the precursor stable isotope signatures can be used to associate them to the final fentanyl product. Herein, we report methods have been developed for stable isotope analysis of fentanyl and its associated precursors, and our data indicate that the produced fentanyl reflect the stable isotope signature of their precursor materials produced using an open source synthesis route. Based on our results, we anticipate that a similar approach may be undertaken to find key isotopic signatures between starting materials and the production of other members of the fentanyl family. Financial support for this work was received from the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate.

Linking a fentanyl sample to its synthetic origin using stable isotope forensic signature analysis

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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