Editing Heroin (section)

==Chemistry==
[[File:Semisynthese V5.svg|thumb|Acetylation of morphine]]

Diamorphine is produced from [[acetylation]] of [[morphine]] derived from natural opium sources, generally using [[acetic anhydride]].<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.unodc.org/pdf/research/Bulletin07/bulletin_on_narcotics_2007_Zerell.pdf|title=Documentation of a heroin manufacturing process in Afghanistan. BULLETIN ON NARCOTICS, Volume LVII, Nos. 1 and 2, 2005|publisher=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime|access-date=20 October 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100705045725/http://www.unodc.org/pdf/research/Bulletin07/bulletin_on_narcotics_2007_Zerell.pdf|archive-date=5 July 2010}}</ref>

The major metabolites of diamorphine, [[6-Monoacetylmorphine|6-MAM]], morphine, [[morphine-3-glucuronide]], and [[morphine-6-glucuronide]], may be quantitated in blood, plasma or urine to monitor for use, confirm a diagnosis of poisoning, or assist in a medicolegal death investigation. Most commercial opiate screening tests cross-react appreciably with these metabolites, as well as with other biotransformation products likely to be present following usage of street-grade diamorphine such as [[6-Monoacetylcodeine]] and [[codeine]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Opiates - Mayo Clinic Laboratories |url=https://www.mayocliniclabs.com/test-catalog/drug-book/specific-drug-groups/opiates |access-date=6 August 2022 |website=www.mayocliniclabs.com}}</ref> However, [[Chromatography|chromatographic]] techniques can easily distinguish and measure each of these substances. When interpreting the results of a test, it is important to consider the diamorphine usage history of the individual, since a chronic user can develop [[Drug tolerance|tolerance]] to doses that would incapacitate an opiate-naive individual, and the chronic user often has high baseline values of these metabolites in his system. Furthermore, some testing procedures employ a [[hydrolysis]] step before quantitation that converts many of the metabolic products to morphine, yielding a result that may be 2&nbsp;times larger than with a method that examines each product individually.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Baselt R |title=Disposition of Toxic Drugs and Chemicals in Man |edition=9th |publisher=Biomedical Publications |location=Seal Beach, CA |year=2011 |pages=793–7 |isbn=978-0-9626523-8-7}}</ref>