Fentanyl’s deadly organic chemistry

Fentanyl’s deadly organic chemistry

By Dr. Andrea Holmes, PhD

Illicit fentanyl is a powerful drug that is 50 times stronger than heroin and it is often sold as blue pills that look like ordinary prescription drugs. An average pill contains at least 2 mg of fentanyl, which is a potentially fatal dose.  In 2023, nearly 75,000 people died of synthetic opioid overdoses in the United States. Rogue and illegal labs in Mexico make this illicit synthetic opioid because the synthesis is surprisingly based on simple organic chemistry. 

Dr. Andrea Holmes worked with journalists from Reuters to explain the science behind fentanyl, and how underworld “cooks” put it to work.(1)

Fentanyl can be made by using organic chemistry precursors that can be easily obtained from other countries, such as from China. (2) Now the US government has placed the toughest restrictions on these precursors because they make producing street fentanyl so easy. This is why underground labs order designer precursors that have a similar, but slightly different chemical structure. This alteration can make the opioid analog even stronger, such as Carfentanil, which was initially developed to sedate elephants and other large animals, is 100 times more potent than fentanyl. 

Dr. Holmes and Reuters journalists investigated translated recipes from Mexican “cooks” and figured out the code words for the precursors and then “bucket chemistry" that is occurring to prepare these opioids. The results are simply awful and present a humanitarian crisis by the production of unsafe and contaminated, potentially lethal opioids from illicit dirty labs in Mexico.  

Organic chemistry students study and conduct synthetic chemistry and experiments in the lab that allows them to understand chemical reactions that occur when precursors get converted to fentanyl. Using these type of critical thinking skills that are taught in organic chemistry allows students to find jobs in the chemical, pharmaceutical, research industry or in government agencies and healthcare. 

1. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/drugs-fentanyl-supply-chain-process/
2. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/drugs-fentanyl-supplychain/

Reference Terms: organic chemistry, synthetic chemistry,Illicit fentanyl, fentanyl, opioid, opioids, synthetic opioid, carfentanil, organic chemistry, chemical, pharmaceutical, research industry, government agencies, healthcare, health care, Open Learning Academy (OLA), Reuters,