TThe opioid crisis plaguing the United States has a major chemical villain: fentanyl. The synthetic drug, lethal in even the smallest doses, enters the country and is mixed with other drugs such as heroin and cocaine, and sometimes compressed into pills that are masquerading as prescription pills. painkillers. In 2022, more than 73,000 people died from fentanyl overdoses in the United States alone, according to the data. data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The main ingredient of fentanyl is piperidine, a ring-shaped organic molecule located at the center of a compound containing three other components: an aniline ring, an alkyl chain and an acyl group. Andrea Holmes, a chemist at Doane University in Nebraska, said Reuters reported last year that fentanyl's chemical structure is best thought of as a Mr. Potato Head toy: piperideine is the head, and the other three compounds make up the eyes, nose and mouth.
Piperidine is used in the production of many other pharmaceuticals, but the US government has placed the most stringent restrictions on fentanyl precursors, which are based on piperidine, making the synthesis of this deadly drug relatively easy. These include 4-anilino-N-phenethylpiperidine (4-ANPP), N-phenethyl-4-piperidone (NPP), 4-aminopyridine (4-AP), and norfentanyl, each of which is just a simple chemical tweak to turn into fentanyl.
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According to 2020 data report China is the primary source of fentanyl and related products entering the United States, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The latter class includes chemical precursors to the drug that end up in Mexico, where cartels control the production and export of fentanyl.
Exporters can and do alter the chemical composition of these precursors to disguise their identity, making it extremely difficult to track and contain their flow across borders and potentially leading to the introduction of fentanyl analogues, such as the elephant tranquilizer carfentanil, which can be 100 times more potent than fentanyl.
The deadly cat-and-mouse game between drug exporters, manufacturers and authorities shows no signs of slowing down, but fentanyl deaths did decline in 2023 and 2024, according to data preliminary data from the CDC.
As authorities seek to slow the damage fentanyl wreaks in the U.S. and beyond, they must monitor the entire spectrum of the chemical, from the finished product to all the components that make it up.
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Main image: US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) / Wikimedia Commons.
