N-Desethylprotonitazene

Routes of
administrationOral, intransal, vaporized

Legal status

• DE: Anlage II (Authorized trade only, not prescriptible)

PubChem CID

• 168310594

FormulaC₂₁H₂₆N₄O₃

N-Desethylprotonitazene

Clinical data
Routes of administration	Oral, intransal, vaporized
Legal status
Legal status	DE: Anlage II (Authorized trade only, not prescriptible)
Identifiers
IUPAC name N-Ethyl-2-(5-nitro-2-(4-propoxybenzyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-1-yl)ethan-1-amine
PubChem CID	168310594
Chemical and physical data
Formula	C21H26N4O3
Molar mass	382.464 g·mol−1
3D model (JSmol)	Interactive image
SMILES CCCOC1=CC=C(CC2=NC3=CC([N+]([O-])=O)=CC=C3N2CCNCC)C=C1
InChI InChI=1S/C21H26N4O3/c1-3-13-28-18-8-5-16(6-9-18)14-21-23-19-15-17(25(26)27)7-10-20(19)24(21)12-11-22-4-2/h5-10,15,22H,3-4,11-14H2,1-2H3 Key:NPHUSRHIDKYNDO-UHFFFAOYSA-N

N-Desethylprotonitazene is a benzimidazole opioid with potent analgesic effects which has been sold as a designer drug. It was first identified in 2024 as an active metabolite of the closely related compound protonitazene,^[1][2] and was found to have less potency than it while still being more potent than fentanyl.^[3][4]

It was discovered in a drug sample from Chicago in June 2025.^[3]