The chemical modification of a panel of nine fentanyls to yield tagged products that can be detected by Electron Ionization Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (EI-GC-MS) is presented.  The method involves the treatment of fentanyls with 2,2,2-trichloroethoxycarbonyl chloride (TrocCl) furnishes two products from one fentanyl molecule that can be used to retrospectively identify the original opioid.  The methodology has been applied to the chemical modification of a panel of nine fentanyls and in all cases the molecular ion peak for the Troc-norfentanyl product bearing the distinctive trichloroethyl isotopic signature can be clearly observed.  This methodology presented is the first application of chloroformates in the chemical modification of these opioids that are notoriously inert to derivatization reactions commonly used available for GC-MS analysis.

Modification of synthetic opioids with Troc chloride for analysis by electron ionization gas chromatography mass spectrometry (EI-GC-MS)

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.