I think krokadil is usually made from iodocodide or diiodocodide, not chlorocodide. These are then demethylated and reduced at the same time with I/red P, like meth. The acidic reaction liquid is then shot up, no purification, hydriodic acid and phosphorous included.Yeilds are usually low(like 10-30%) but desomophine is 10x morphine so they get back more doses from the codeine.Who knows what leftover iodocodide does?
I wonder what kind of desomorphine they're making. There are 4 chemicals named desomorphine, A, B, C, and D. Medical desomorphine(permonid) was either Desomophine-D or a mixture of desomorphine-D and desomorphine-C. I think both C and D are 10x morphine, not sure about A or B.There's also codeine versions of desomophine and some tetrahydrodesomophine and methyldesomophine as impurities.
I think it would be much safer if they purified it, rather than shooting corrosive acid and phosphorous(phossy jaw). Maybe an acid/base extraction. Or just dilute with water and throw in the refrigerator to crystallize(I don't think desomophine-D hydriodide is very water soluble).
It would seem krokadil is more an amalgam of different opioids, rather than pure desomophine alone.
I presumed they'd have come the α-chlorocodide route as, theoretically, you could obtain the thionyl chloride from ripping up enough of the right sort of batteries which you can no doubt get in Russia. Then, as you say, it's just a matter of reduction as per meth. I'm suprised they go to all the effort though- if they can get their hands on that much codeine feedstock and they have access to intermediate-levels of chemicals why the fuck don't they make dihydrodiamorphine? It's easy to make 'homebake style' and produces a more potent, longer lasting product with a higher yield (i.e. a monkey can and has done it) and fewer hazardous precursors? Codiene->Dihydrocodeine->Demethylate w/anhydrous pryidine (dihydro first raises yield from 10-30% to 40-90%)->Dihydromorphine->Acetate w/acetic anhydride-> Dihydrodiamorphine (Diacetyldihydromorphine)- possibly the greatest little known opiate that I have had the pleasure of tasting. Helps to hit the books before you become a fiend
I just can't understand why something so high-profile as meth-precursors can become the mainstay in Russian opiate production- when shit like this happened in NZ we worked with what we had (codiene) and made what we wanted (heroin), a few creative sorts made various dihydro- hydro- morphine and heroin analogs. Little equipment or skill was needed and as long as you filtered it properly it was no worse than you than banging some cut to shit street heroin, just like morphine-based homebake is today. If codeine is that cheap, why not just buy industial amounts of it (as people obviously are anyway) and then just convert it into morphine with a variety of safer chemicals, you'd end up with a better yield of a higher quality product- so what is mg for mg it's a bit weaker than desomorphine. I can understand not being able to get acetic anhydride
However you're probably right- they're probably substituting various prescursors (knowingly or unknowingly) that the users themselves will probably have no fucking idea what they hell they're injecting. But I'll stand by my point that 'krokodil' seems to be particularly deadly not because it's an opiate, but because it is such a poorly synthesised and essentially unpurified (well, I suppose they're not basifying it will a few mls of their blood and spreading HIV
via the fucking drugs themselves like what happened in Poland). It's fucked. Russia is not a third world country, it's not some backwater- it's nearly half of fucking Europe and despite the end of the USSR it is still a major international power, yet it cares so little for its own population that methadone is illegal, buprenorphine is completely unheard of and 'treatment' all too often involves 'methods' that are so brutal Russian junkies often live in more fear of 'treatment' than withdrawal.
When I saw thousands of people protesting recently (around Christmas, if I remember correctly the biggest protest was on dec 24) Ifound it deeply heartening. Edward Limonov- the author whom I took my screenname from was arrested (again) at one of these protests. He is the head of a political party which was declared illegal for 'plotting to invade khazakhstan' amonst other ridiculous and politically motivated charges. He spent years in prison for speaking for those without a voice. People celebrate Ghandi and Nelson Mandela as heros of an age that has ended- it has not ended, we have simply become so densensitised to the endless cycle of repression and violence that political prisons have just lost their sex appeal.
I know this is all horribly off topic and this is just a harm reduction board and all- but so many drug users justify their drug use with the explination that they're 'broadening their minds'. The way the world is going most people just seem to be broadening their egos and filling their pockets. Every single person needs to take a good hard look at themselves, this is our world, it is our responsibility. This is a thread that is little more than 'look at how fucked up Russian junkies are- aren't we fucking special, we inject nice pure tar heroin- as God intended'. This thread should be closed because it's pointless- it's a glorified ad for Vice's documentary. Maybe we should make a 'meth documentation project' thread and post tons of fucked up american IV-meth users with lizard skin and big bugs-under-my-skin abscesses where all the non-american members get to call you a bunch of cranked up dumbass redneck hillbillies.
And no, I am not Russian. I am Scottish. Edward Limonov is also an excellent author and, in my opinion, a literary genius and visionary (even if some of his politics are a bit iffy- though I definately see where he's coming from)