

The structure of a confiscated street drug: 6-Monoacetyl morphine hydrochloride trihydrate - C19H22NO4Cl·3H2O
Matthew Wood (1)



(1) Carl A. Olson Memorial Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, Rutgers University, 73 Warren St., Newark, NJ, 07102 USA
(2) Molecular Sciences Institute, School of Chemistry, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, 2050 Johannesburg ZA South Africa
(3) Carl A. Olson Memorial Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, Rutgers University, 73 Warren St., Newark, NJ, 07102 USA
(*) Corresponding Author
Received: 22 Jan 2021 | Revised: 10 Feb 2021 | Accepted: 18 Feb 2021 | Published: 31 Mar 2021 | Issue Date: March 2021
Abstract
Since street drugs are frequently and rapidly modified, in order to circumvent the current laws that make them illicit, it is necessary to fully identify them by single crystal X-ray diffraction; subsequently, ideal powder patterns are computed for rapid identification of additional confiscations, which are mostly available in powder form. Monoacetyl morphine is found in samples of heroin as a by-product of incomplete synthesis, or from degradation of diacetyl morphine caused by heat, humidity, or pH changes. It is formed by the hydrolysis of the acetyl function on the benzene moiety of the morphine ring, thereby inserting an OH moiety at that site. This compound, 6-monoacetyl morphine, is the primary and active metabolite of heroin, rapidly hydrolyzed in the user’s blood. Herein, we describe the structure of 6-monoacetyl morphine, IUPAC name: [(4R,4aR,7S,7aR,12bS)-9-hydroxy-3-methyl-2,4,4a,7,7a,13-hexahydro-1H-4,12-methanobenzofuro[3,2-e]isoquinolin-7-yl] acetate (A), as the trihydrated hydrochloride, whose structure has not been described previously. Our crystals belong in space group P212121 with cell parameters of a = 6.9367(2), b = 13.0374(3), c = 21.9856(6) Å, V = 1988.30 (9) Å3; its composition is C19H22NO4Cl·3H2O, and Z = 4.0. A full sphere of data was collected at 100 K using CuKα radiation (λ = 1.54178 Å), yielding 3594 unique reflections measured and a final R-factor = 4.1%, with a Flack parameter = 0.05(1).
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DOI: 10.5155/eurjchem.12.1.52-55.2077
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Department of Chemistry, Rutgers University, 73 Warren St., Newark, NJ, 07102 USA.
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DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.5155/eurjchem.12.1.52-55.2077

















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