Studies on 1-(2-Phenethyl)-4-(N-propionylanilino)piperidine (Fentanyl) and Related Compounds. I. Spectrometric and Chromatographic Analyses of 3-Methylfentanyl and α-Methylfentanyl

The structure of a new drug of abuse called China White was confirmed to be α-methylfentanyl, one of the compounds related to fentanyl, based on comparisons of their electron impact and chemical ionization mass, nuclear magnetic resonance and infrared spectra. 3-Methylfentanyl, which was previously assigned as a component of China White, and α-methylfentanyl could be discriminated from each other by not only spectrometric but also chromatographic analyses, such as thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography. The detection limits were 0.1 μg in both methods.