Hydrochloric Acid → Oxycodone Hydrochloride

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

Oxycodone base (40.07 g) containing 4869 ppm of 14-hydroxycodeinone and 13.7 ppm DHDHC, was suspended in 1-butanol (250 mL) and water (180 mL) in a jacketed reactor. At 15° C. and with the reaction under nitrogen, aqueous hydrochloric acid (37%) was added to achieve a pH of 2.86. At 25° C., zinc dust (1 g) was added and the resulting mixture was stirred for 3 hr (Note: pH increased to 5.86 upon zinc powder addition). Activated carbon (Norit KB-G, 4 g) was added to the reactor and the solution was allowed to stir for 40 min. The reaction mixture was then filtered to remove the zinc and carbon. The filtrate was charged to a clean reactor. The pH of the solution was adjusted to 6.17 using pyridine (15 mL). Water was distilled off under vacuum at 60° C. The solution was then cooled to 20° C. and allowed to stir for 15 min. The solids were filtered and washed with 1-butanol (20 mL×2). The product was dried to a constant weight at 65° C. under vacuum to yield 42.14 g of crude oxycodone hydrochloride.

Provenance & Evidence