my first extraction - for fun!

[Arrow2brain]

Let me start off by saying that I would in no way consider ingesting a chemical that I extracted unless I was 100% sure that I followed the tek completely and accurately. I didn't follow proper proceedures because A) I'm not going to be putting the final product into my body and B) I'm too lazy to go out and buy the proper materials, so I worked with what I had at home. I'm not expecting anything from this, just minor experience that might come in handy months later.

That being said, I found an expired bottle (Im talkin expired in 00') of cough syrup in my bathroom cabinet, as well as a vial of 3M NaOH from an old class, so I decided 'what the hell? I'll try an extraction - just for the fun of it'.

So my first question is, is it possible to add too much base? Like, so much that the overall solution is oversaturated and somehow seeps into the solvent and eventually ends up in your final product? Not sure how ~100ml of 3M sodium hydroxide translates to solid lye but I'm positive it was overkill.

Second question, how does using a solvent other than naptha or xylene affect the overall product? I used charcoal lighter fluid (petroleum distillates) because thats all I had, and I figured that as long as it evaporates without producing grime then its all good (for aesthetic purposes). I'm pretty sure this is wrong, but I'd like to know why.

I know next to nothing about these things, but I want to learn. Halp me out! :D

[Arrow2brain]

Nobody wants to answer. :(

I guess what Im trying to ask is what are the ramifications of using just any flammable solvent in an extraction? Do some not evaporate properly and leave behind a residue in the final product that if taken orally could be toxic? Or is it that they evaporate properly but cannont hold a sufficient amount of crystals to be useful?

I used google. Unfortunately, such simple things are not addressed.

[nshanin]

Jeez, you gave us 2 hours to answer!

I know nothing about DXM extractions, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they would not involve a NaOH. That's just my guess though. I recommend looking up some extractions; they're easily available and should give you the right idea.

[Von Bass]

I used charcoal lighter fluid (petroleum distillates) because thats all I had, and I figured that as long as it evaporates without producing grime then its all good (for aesthetic purposes). I'm pretty sure this is wrong, but I'd like to know why.

Thats a smidgeon worrying. Although you may not be able to see alkane related residue on your DXM, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, whether within crystal matrices or lying on the surface.

Lighter fluid is a notoriously bad solvent for this, with manufacturers distilling off the most volatile fractions and leaving the longer chain alkanes in there, shorter chain alkanes being worth more, and being slightly more prone to evaporate into a cloud above your lighter just after filling it, resulting in one singed eyebrow the next time you light a cig.

If you still wish to use alkane related solvents as your non polar, may I recommend acquiring either a named chain length; heptane, hexane, octane are all relatively easy to find, or buying solvent grade naphtha within a certain boiling point range, 40 - 80 is probably perfectly acceptable.

Chlorinated hydrocarbons also make very nice NP solvents, although they are often a little carcinogenic, so don't go drinking the bottle or evaporating litres of the stuff down in an enclosed environment.

Diethyl ether is very nice, especially on toxicity matters, but super flammable, expensive, and perhaps a waste on DXM.

As has been said, find an AB tek specific to a DXM extraction, understand it, and then follow it to a suitable degree of accuracy.

[squeegee]

For some reason when I first read this I thought you were talking about codeine syrup or liquid lortab.


www.dextroverse.org has an agent lemon extraction that can be your project or just a basis or guideline.

Check it out and let us know how you did.

[Arrow2brain]

I've read every tek I could find on both DXM and DMT, so I definately know what to do; understanding it completely... not so much. I mean I get the basics, acid + base = salt + water, extract salt using solvent, then evaporate.

Its done evaporating. The final product is gooey as fuck, but I can see definate DXM crystals in it. Besides, I could purify it further if I wanted. Success :3 Ill be throwing it away now.. :p

Thanks for all the input guys! I'll be trying a lazymans tek on some MHRB soon

[hydroponichronic]

The extraction data on teh N3T is pretty lackluster. Agent orange tuns out a goop, and so do most other write ups I've seen.

I'm trying to improvise a extraction from syrup, but haven't had time to test it out, as I've been a bum lately. It goes a little sumthin like this:

1. Pour the syrup into some container with a lid that can resist acids, bases, and shaking.

2. Neutralize all the citric acid w/ baking soda to save NaOH. Do this slowly, 'cause it will foam pretty bad. Seriously, I can't tell you how much cherry-flavored spray has gotten on my shit.

3. Base the DXM with the NaOH after the NaHCO3 finishes doing it's job. as for how much to add, this I'm not to sure about. My guess is you'd want excess. DXM looks like a pretty stable molecule, so I don't think the NaOH would cause any problems.

4. Pour in your NP solvent (1/3 of the vol. of your current soln., I think) and shake like the dickens. Then shake it some more.

5. Pour off all the stuff that's not your NP solvent.

6. Add a new polar phase, this time of HCl. Shake up again. And Again.

7. Now pour off (and save) the NP phase (it might still have stuff in it. save and evap to see what comes out)

8. To the polar DXM HCl phase, either first neutralize (slowly) with baking soda, then with NaOH, or just straight with the NaOH. Add NaOH 'till some milky white crystals precipitate out.

9. Let the whole mix cool in your fridge for a while to allow full precip and settling. Finally, pour through a filter, collect crystals

10. Dispose of them 'cause DXM is bad for your brain. Don't want Olney's Lesions now do we?

Although, don't take my word for this. I have zilch for experience with extractions and such, so make sure this gets OK'd by someone higher on the LT ladder.

BTW, figured I'd ask this: DXM + pyridine + AlCl3 (anhyd)--> DXO?

[DiamondX]

I've read every tek I could find on both DXM and DMT, so I definately know what to do; understanding it completely... not so much. I mean I get the basics, acid + base = salt + water, extract salt using solvent, then evaporate.

Its done evaporating. The final product is gooey as fuck, but I can see definate DXM crystals in it. Besides, I could purify it further if I wanted. Success :3 Ill be throwing it away now.. :p

Thanks for all the input guys! I'll be trying a lazymans tek on some MHRB soon

I hope you havn't thrown it out yet, theres no reason not to practice cleaning it. The wikipedia article on acid-base extractions is pretty good, you should read it if you havn't already. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_Base_Extraction

A lot of plant have alkaloids in them, if you're bored just go outside and grind up some leaves/flower/roots/bark/seeds/etc. and do an extraction. If you can, weigh the amount of material you started with and the amount of product you get and see how it compares to the average alkaloid content. The alkaloid content is usually reported as a percent relative to dry weight, so you would have to dry it out first to see how good you're getting at it.

[Arrow2brain]

^Too late, I smeared the shit on a pillar at my school :p

And I think I'll do a bit of that backyard chemistry that you're suggesting before I get to the stuff that actually matters. Organic chemistry interests me sooo much, but I just don't know where to start besides reading and re-reading intro to ochem sites. Thanks alot! :)

[jamaica0535]

^Too late, I smeared the shit on a pillar at my school :p

And I think I'll do a bit of that backyard chemistry that you're suggesting before I get to the stuff that actually matters. Organic chemistry interests me sooo much, but I just don't know where to start besides reading and re-reading intro to ochem sites. Thanks alot! :)

oh but that can matter....

Certain grasses contain DMT and 5-MeO-DMT... which could be worth extracting, even though they are found in very low concentrations the alkaloids are there...

[FullMetalJacket]

3 molar NaOH was probably a bit strong, you may have torched THE DXM while trying to extract it anyway.... NaOH works great, I use it myself, you jsut gotta do it stoichiometrically.