Details for Patent: 7,129,248

Title:	Process for preparing oxycodone hydrochloride having less than 25 ppm 14-hydroxycodeinone
Abstract:	In certain embodiments the invention is directed to a process for preparing an oxycodone hydrochloride composition having less than 25 ppm of 14-hydroxycodeinone.
Inventor(s):	Chapman; Robert (North Kingstown, RI), Rider; Lonn S. (Warwick, RI), Hong; Qi (Sharon, MA), Kyle; Donald (Newtown, PA), Kupper; Robert (Coventry, RI)
Assignee:	Euro-Celtique, S.A. (Luxembourg, LU)
Filing Date:	Mar 30, 2005
Application Number:	11/093,626
Claims:	1. A process for preparing an oxycodone hydrochloride composition having less than 25 ppm 14-hydroxycodeinone comprising hydrogenating an oxycodone hydrochloride composition having at least 100 ppm 14-hydroxycodeinone in a suitable solvent to produce an oxycodone hydrochloride composition having less than 25 ppm 14-hydroxycodeinone. 2. The process of claim 1, wherein said hydrogenation is performed with a hydrogen donor and a catalyst. 3. The process of claim 1 wherein said hydrogenation is performed under reflux. 4. The process of claim 1, wherein the solvent is an alcohol. 5. The process of claim 4, wherein the alcohol is selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol and isopropanol. 6. The process of claim 1, further comprising recovering the oxycodone hydrochloride composition having less than 25 ppm 14-hydroxycodeinone from the solvent. 7. The process of claim 6, wherein the recovery step comprises crystallizing the oxycodone hydrochloride composition having less than 25 ppm 14-hydroxycodeinone and filtering the crystallized composition from the solvent. 8. The process of claim 6, comprising further hydrogenating the oxycodone hydrochloride composition having less than 25 ppm 14-hydroxycodeinone. 9. The process of claim 6, wherein the oxycodone hydrochloride composition has a 14-hydroxycodeinone level of less than 15 ppm. 10. The process of claim 2, wherein the hydrogenation is performed with a hydrogen donor. 11. The process of claim 10, wherein the hydrogenation is further performed with a catalyst. 12. The process of claim 10, wherein the hydrogen donor is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen gas, formic acid, indoline, cyclohexene, sodium borohydride, tetrahydroquinoline, 2,5-dihydrofuran, phosphoric acid, and combinations thereof. 13. The process of claim 1, wherein the hydrogenation produces an oxycodone hydrochloride composition having a 14-hydroxycodeinone level of less than 15 ppm. 14. The process of claim 1, wherein the hydrogenation produces an oxycodone hydrochloride composition having a 14-hydroxycodeinone level of less than 10 ppm. 15. The process of claim 1, wherein the hydrogenation produces an oxycodone hydrochloride composition having a 14-hydroxycodeinone level of less than 5 ppm. 16. The process of claim 1, wherein the hydrogenation produces an oxycodone composition having a 14-hydroxycodeinone level of between 15 ppm and 25 ppm, further comprising additional hydrogenation to produce an oxycodone hydrochloride composition comprising 14-hydroxycodeinone in an amount less than 10 ppm. 17. The process of claim 1, wherein the hydrogenation produces an oxycodone composition having a 14-hydroxycodeinone level of between 10 ppm and 25 ppm, further comprising additional hydrogenation to produce an oxycodone hydrochloride composition comprising 14-hydroxycodeinone in an amount less than 5 ppm. 18. The process of claim 1, wherein the hydrogenation step is performed without a hydrogen gas feed.