Pyrolysis of cocaine at 600°C in a nitrogen atmosphere yields a mixture of compounds, sixteen of which were identified. The structural isomers methyl phenylacetate and methyl o-, m- and p-toluates are the products of a new skeletal rearrangement of cocaine.
m-Hydroxybenzoylecgonine is an important metabolite of cocaine. A synthesis of [8-C2H3]-m-hydroxybenzoylecgonine (7) for use as an internalstandard in GC/MS analysis of m-hydroxybenzoylecgonine, is described. N-Demethylation of cocaine (1) gave norcocaine (2) which was converted to [8-C2H3]cocaine (3) upon treatment with CD3I. Hydrolysis of 3 followed by esterification gave [8-C2H3]ecgonine methyl