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mdma purity test theory

Mr. White

Bluelighter
Joined
Jan 19, 2008
Messages
624
I was thinking last night as i mused over some chemistry work that a reasonable easy mdma purity test could be done with a titration.

1.weigh out 1g (not that much, i'm just using it for example) molly/crystal/maybe even a pill and dissolve in water (or perhaps an organic solvent?)

2.Find a compound that will react with mdma specifically. Mdma is a amine so possibly a de-amination reaction, anything that we can measure, ie pH change, colour change, visible reaction (it no longer reacts after X amount of other compound is added)

3.do a titration, surely there is a method not requiring lab equipment.

4. do the maths and get a rough estimate on the quantity and hence purity of the mdma


Would this work? i cant see why it wouldnt other than there being multiple reactions with the impurities or a multi-stage reaction with the mdma and its derivitives.
 
Mr White, meet Mr Blonde ;)

We should have a whole Reservoir Dogs gang on this board =D

But anyway, I see no reason why this would not work. Titration wasn't my best at school, but as long as the substances you are using for your reaction aren't that dangerous, lab equipment probably isn't a must (definitely recommended though).

It would also be helpful to know the most common impurities in MDMA, so that you can rule out chemicals that will react with those and give you false data.

Good idea though, I'm sure there are a lot of people who'd like to know exactly what kind of purity they are dealing with.

rdogs.jpg


Lol, sorry, I couldn't resist!
 
We should definetly get reservoir dogs gang going :D

After a quick look at the structures of common adulterants (amphetamine, meth, etc) Its going to be difficult to find a reagent that will only react with mdxx so a better approach might be to test with a pill tester, confirm that the pill/powder is unadulterated and then do a titration to assess the purity.

To the experienced: what, realistically, are molly and crystal cut with? Also what binders are typically used in pills?

And one last thing, does our mdma ever exist as mdma, or is it always mdma hcl. Like wise for MDA
 
I'm working on a test that gives indication on purity. Will let you know when something happens.
 
the colour tests could theoretically be modified to indicate purity, measure the intensity of the colour using a spectrophotometer and that should be pretty good,
spectrophotometers for water testing are pretty cheap.

better would be an antibody based test where the antibody is attached to a light absorbing something... colloidal gold is useful, do it on a clear strip and scan it with an ordinary scanner.

the proper way of doing it is gas chromatography and nothing is going to beat that.
 
whats the most simple cost affective way to test to see if it has something cut into it to make it weigh more? like baking soda etc.
 
For baking soda? Burn it. The ash content would be an indication. Also, the intense yellow emission of sodium in the flame. Put a few milligrams on the end of a spatula in a gas flame.
 
Mr Blonde said:
But anyway, I see no reason why this would not work.
No? But I do...
To determine the MDMA-content quantitatively, one would need a highly specific reagent that does not react with closely related derivatives (synthesis side-products anyone?!), nor with the usual adulterants in ecxtasy-tablets. Any ideas?!

The suggested GC analysis is of course No 1 but quite costly, too, and nothing to perform at home.

- Murphy
 
the colour tests could theoretically be modified to indicate purity, measure the intensity of the colour using a spectrophotometer and that should be pretty good,
spectrophotometers for water testing are pretty cheap.

better would be an antibody based test where the antibody is attached to a light absorbing something... colloidal gold is useful, do it on a clear strip and scan it with an ordinary scanner.

the proper way of doing it is gas chromatography and nothing is going to beat that.

I was going to say, the cheap way is a spectrophotometer, for $100-$200 off ebay you could get one, then you need about $150 worth of analytical glassware and it could theoretically be performed. Unfortunately it would not work with pills unless you first did performed some kind of purification method, and the possibility still remains of contaminants.
 
The only way that your MDMA is pure is if they're solidly yellow stones. They feel like pebbles and break apart fairly easily, plus they have a slightly whitish glaze like they've been frozen. Yellow forming into clear is impurity, either cut that'd been rocked onto the pure substance or the unchanged base, which usually feels methy so I'm assuming that's what it is. (EDIT: There's many many many ways you can make MDMA, there can be thousands of separate impurities attached to MDMA in the rock form, and there's little else you can do besides separate the physically distinct sections and test them individually) If you're being sold a powder or non-yellow rocks, it's cut. When powdered the yellow tinge turns to white and it looks indistinguishable from any other powder, so yellow powder is dyed and cut, and if they powdered it before they sold it, it was to cut it. You will absolutely NEVER find 100% pilled, even in capsules, because pure MDMA may clump easily, but it doesn't compress or hold it's shape properly so binders are physically necessary for pills to be possible, plus there's no way to make a decent profit off of pure, and if you put more than 50mg in a $10 pill (compare that to the usual price I find for pills at 50 cents per pill) you'll make little to no profit.

In short, if you need to ask then no. You don't need a specific chemical experiment to do so, plus if you care enough to pay to know, there are many online resources you can send your pills to for professional testing, and you can pick up a testing kit. Also I've seen people testing people's shit at rave's, so you could probably find many people who could concisely explain EXACTLY how everything works to you IRL.
 
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The only way that your MDMA is pure is if they're solidly yellow stones
Not true. Pure MDMA is white, yellow=impurity.

In short, if you need to ask then no. You don't need a specific chemical experiment to do so, plus if you care enough to pay to know, there are many online resources you can send your pills to for professional testing, and you can pick up a testing kit. Also I've seen people testing people's shit at rave's, so you could probably find many people who could concisely explain EXACTLY how everything works to you IRL.
What you're talking about are qualitative tests, to determine what a sample contains. OP is about quantitative testing, to determine purity of a sample.
 
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