Carfentanil is a highly potent opioid legally used to tranquillise large animals (Wildnil®), but illicitly used as a recreational drug. In the 2002 Moscow Dubrovka theater hostage crisis, carfentanil was used as a knockout agent by Russian security forces, demonstrating its potential for use as an antagonistic chemical agent. Illegal use of carfentanil is considered a serious crime which is why all possible intelligence should be gathered for forensic investigation. Hence, dispersed carfentanil could be sampled from a crime scene during investigation. In a previous study, we showed that fentanyl agents can be sampled from surfaces and the associated synthesis method classified based on impurity profiles by using a multivariate classification model. In this study, we show that this classification method can also be applied for the highly-toxic carfentanil. Carfentanil was synthesised using three different methods and their chemical profiles analysed by GC-MS and UHPLC-HRMS. A training set of 54 samples was used to build a classification model of carfentanil synthesis methods based on impurity profiles. Synthesis methods for an independent test set were predicted by the model with good results. Furthermore, the model’s ability to classify by synthesis method was investigated using surface samples of carfentanil dispersed on cotton fabric and a wood surface collected after 72 h and one week. The results showed successful classification by synthesis route from both surfaces at both time points, with cotton fabric producing the best outcome.

卡芬太尼是一种高效的阿片类药物，合法用于镇静大型动物 (Wildnil®)，但被非法用作消遣性药物。在2002年莫斯科杜布罗夫卡剧院人质危机中， 卡芬太尼被俄罗斯安全部队用作击倒剂，证明了其用作拮抗化学剂的潜力。非法使用卡芬太尼被视为严重犯罪，因此应收集所有可能的情报进行法医调查。因此，在调查期间可以从犯罪现场采样分散的卡芬太尼。在之前的一项研究中，我们表明可以从表面采样芬太尼药物，并使用多变量分类模型根据杂质谱对相关合成方法进行分类。在这项研究中，我们表明这种分类方法也适用于剧毒卡芬太尼。卡芬太尼使用三种不同的方法合成，并通过 GC-MS 和 UHPLC-HRMS 分析了它们的化学特征。使用 54 个样本的训练集构建基于杂质谱的卡芬太尼合成方法分类模型。该模型预测了独立测试集的合成方法，结果良好。此外，使用分散在棉织物上的卡芬太尼表面样品和 72 小时和 1 周后收集的木材表面，研究了该模型通过合成方法进行分类的能力。结果显示，在两个时间点，通过合成途径从两个表面成功分类，棉织物产生最佳结果。使用分散在棉织物上的卡芬太尼表面样品和 72 小时和 1 周后收集的木材表面来研究模型通过合成方法进行分类的能力。结果显示，在两个时间点，通过合成途径从两个表面成功分类，棉织物产生最佳结果。使用分散在棉织物上的卡芬太尼表面样品和 72 小时和 1 周后收集的木材表面来研究模型通过合成方法进行分类的能力。结果显示，在两个时间点，通过合成途径从两个表面成功分类，棉织物产生最佳结果。