 Thebacon's analgesic and antitussive potency is slightly higher than that of its parent compound hydrocodone, which gives it approximately eight times the milligramme strength of codeine.The acetylation at position 3 and the conversion into a dihydromorphinone class semisynthetic (at position 14 on the morphine carbon skeleton) allows for the drug to more rapidly enter the central nervous system in greater quantity where it is de-acetylated into hydromorphone, and also converted by other processes into hydromorphinol, morphine and various other active and inactive substances; it therefore simultaneously takes advantage of two methods of increasing the effectiveness of morphine and its derivatives, those being catalytic hydrogenation (codeine into hydrocodone) and esterification (morphine into diamorphine, nicomorphine &c) in a manner not unlike to that of dihydrodiacetylmorphine.Like all of its chemical relatives in this class (codeine-based semi-synthetic narcotic antitussives), thebacon exerts its analgesic effect and a large part of its antitussive and antiperistaltic action as a prodrug for stronger and/or longer-lasting opioids, primarily hydromorphone, which is formed in the liver by the cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6) enzyme pathway as well as acetylmorphone.