Spontaneous hydrolysis of heroin in buffered solution

Electron-capture gas–liquid chromatography was used to study the spontaneous hydrolysis of heroin in phosphate buffer (pH 6.4 and pH 7.4) at 23 °C. Aliquots of solution were taken over a 24-h period. After extraction at pH 8.9 into propan-2-ol (10%) – ethyl acetate, deacetylated products were made into heptafluorobutyrate derivatives which were analyzed quantitatively using nalorphine as the internal standard. Heroin decomposes to O6-monoacetylmorphine (O6-MAM) under these conditions. Further decomposition to morphine was not observed. Spontaneous hydrolysis was faster at pH 7.4 (first-order rate constant, 9.6 × 10−5 min−1) than at pH 6.4 (first-order rate constant, 3.0 × 10−5 min−1). In 24 h, the decomposition to O6-MAM was 13 and 4%, respectively.