U.S. Pat. #: 5,489,689
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=5%2C489%2C689.WKU.&OS=PN/5%2C489%2C689&RS=PN/5%2C489%2C689 (http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=5%2C489%2C689.WKU.&OS=PN/5%2C489%2C689&RS=PN/5%2C489%2C689)
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Abstract
A piperidine derivative such as sufentanil is formed in a process which includes the step of condensing a piperidone with a primary amine so as to form a 4-amino-4-carboxyamino-piperidine.
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Sufentanil citrate, first synthesized in 1974 (Niemegeers et al., Arzneim. Forsch. 26:1551-1556, 1976), is a piperidine derivative and a member of a series of potent fentanyl analogues. It is a powerful analgesic with an excellent safety margin as compared to other narcotic agents. It is furthermore characterized by a high selectivity and affinity (approximately 10 times greater than fentanyl) for "mu" opiate receptors...
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...When compared with meperidine, morphine and fentanyl, in patients undergoing general surgery under balanced anesthesia, sufentanil provides stable cardiovascular parameters, low preoperative catecholamine plasma levels, very little need for additional inhalation supplementation, and a low incidence of postoperative respiratory depression.
Because of its remarkably low cardiovascular toxicity, sufentanil citrate has been evaluated as a total intravenous anesthetic for major surgical procedures.
EDIT:
Sufentanil, Potency: 20-30 x Fentanyl.
Fentanyl, Potency: 50-100 x Morphine.
1-2-3 ACiD
Patent US5489689 (http://l2.espacenet.com/dips/viewer?PN=US5489689&CY=gb&LG=en&DB=EPD)
Catalytic hydrogenation freak
I got the info on potency from this pdf: https://www.thevespiary.org/rhodium/Rhodium/pdf/secofentanyl.pdf (https://www.thevespiary.org/rhodium/Rhodium/pdf/secofentanyl.pdf)
(SCHEME 1)
1-2-3 ACiD
Yup, I see.
I 've got the "The analgesic potency of sufentanil is approximately 5 to 7 times that of fentanyl. Dosage requirements for equianalgesic effect will be 1/5 to 1/7 those of fentanyl on a µg basis" information from
http://www.rxmed.com/b.main/b2.pharmaceutical/b2.prescribe.html (http://www.rxmed.com/b.main/b2.pharmaceutical/b2.prescribe.html)
Unfortunately I can 't provide a link to sufentanil, because the search function on that site seems to be broken. But search for 'Sufenta', when it 's fixed ... you will find a lot of usefull information.
Now that I 've thought a bit about it, it 's probably because sufentanil has such a high therapeutic index that they can administer relatively much of it (more than 1/20 - 1/30 of the fentanyl dose).
Other sufentanil info can be found at:
http://hsc.unm.edu/lifeguard/sufenta.htm (http://hsc.unm.edu/lifeguard/sufenta.htm)
Furthermore, I checked my good old L'officine, Dorvault, 23 e édition. And it says on p 116: "Le sulfentanyl est 5 à 10 fois plus puissante que le fentanyl".
This one says also: 10 x fentanyl
http://www.narcomed.com/books/opioide/sufentanil/indikationen.html#Dosierung (http://www.narcomed.com/books/opioide/sufentanil/indikationen.html#Dosierung)
In rats, sufentanil seems to be 4800 times more potent than morphine.
http://www.narcomed.com/books/opioide/fentanyl/indikationsgruppe.html (http://www.narcomed.com/books/opioide/fentanyl/indikationsgruppe.html)
Strange ... seems that rodents are more susceptible to sufentanil than humans ... It's a shame that they can't do a tail withdrawal test on humans.
Hey, I've got it: insert the penis in water (brought up to 58 °C) & mesure the time before withdrawal :) . No, no ... Cyrax is just joking. He 's in a rather funny state of mind :) .
EDIT: Click manually on the 'S' and then on 'Sufenta'