The basic formula for cocaine starts by purchasing or making tropinone, converting the tropinone into 2-carbomethoxytropinone (also known as methyl-tropan-3-one-2-carboxylate), reducing this to ecgonine, and changing that to cocaine. Sounds easy? It really is not very simple, but with new drug policies, cracking down on all of the drug smuggling at the borders, this synthetic cocaine may be the source of the future. This synthesis is certainly worth performing with the high prices that cocaine is now commanding. As usual, I will start with the precursors and intermediates leading up to the product.