Major Metabolites of Zolpidem: Expeditious Synthesis and Mass Spectra

Abstract

An expeditious route to the two major metabolites of Zolpidem—and readily applicable to the synthesis of the drug—was established via a cyclization reaction between a 2-aminopyridine and a suitable α-bromoacetophenone. The structures of the target compounds were confirmed from a 2D ¹H–¹⁵N NMR correlation. Their mass spectra contribute to a reliable toxicological identification of the drug in the case of drug-facilitated crimes.