Fentanyl analogues and their positional isomers have similar chemical structural configurations making them difficult to identify and differentiate. Gas chromatography coupled to a gas-phase infrared detector (GC-IRD) is a useful and powerful tool for the unambiguous identification of fentanyl compounds where traditional analytical techniques such as gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) offer limited information for this class of compounds. In this study, we demonstrate the utility of GC-IRD and show how this complementary information enables the identification of fentanyl analogues (2- and 3- furanylfentanyl, 2-furanylbenzylfentanyl, crotonylfentanyl, cyclopropylfentanyl, methoxyacetylfentanyl, carfentanil, meta-fluoroisobutyryl fentanyl, para-fluoroisobutyryl fentanyl and ortho-fluoroisobutyryl fentanyl) when combined with GC–MS data. A description of the operating conditions including how the optimization of GC-IRD parameters can enhance the spectral resolution and unambiguous identification of these fentanyl analogues is presented, for the first time. In particular, the effects of light pipe temperatures, acquisition resolution, the use of a programmed temperature vaporizing (PTV) inlet, and the analytical concentration of the sample were evaluated. A real-world case example illustrates the current challenges frequently encountered in casework and how the implementation of GC-IRD may overcome some of these challenges in fentanyl differentiation and identification.
(Publisher abstract provided.)