In reality there are many things which can be used as binders. I've even heard of PVA (poly-vinyl acetate) wood glue being used with chalk or similar. Ghastly as it may sound, it's possibly not too bad for the health as PVA is
supposedly inert in-vivo.
The reason I say that most larger producers/pressers would use commercial or equivalent mixtures, is due to the usual properties of pills seen. The more rarely seen crumbly or odd consistency pills may indicate the presence of soluble binders or other "OTC" materials, but such tablets could simply reflect the ability of the tablet maker. According to reports, tablet making is considered both an art and a science, often requiring extensive practise and instruction in order to get a decent product.
The most likely things present which make purification difficult by the above methods are other amines, the commonly noted being; Ketamine, meth or other amphetamines and PEAs. Of course, any of the
orally absorbed - MAO resistant tryptamines could also be added, but reports tend to indicate tryptamines in pills is not commonly seen (atm).
It has also been reported that pharmaceuticals are sometimes being added to pills in order to potentiate or synergize with the MDMA. Each of these would need to be identified and assessed individually before a suitable method of purification can be designed.
If you wish to test your extracted product for relative purity, the best method is TLC (thin layer chromatography), but to be done properly, TLC really requires a pure sample to reference against. It can sort of be done without using analytical grade MDMA as a reference, by looking for a single spot rather than 2 or more (which indicates more than one substance is present). I've also heard of others preparing their own references, or using other analytical grade amines as references.....for another day perhaps.
The next best thing for testing purity is normally a melting point test, but Shulgin points out that with MDMA, several states of hydration may occur and so he concludes that melting point tests are not adequate for estimating purity of MDMA-HCl.
From *somewhere we can't mention*
The melting point of MDMA depends on the hydration of the salt. Shulgin states: "It is apparent that with uncertain hydration, the melting point is not an acceptable criterion of identity or of purity."[ 1]. The various melting points are:
155 deg C (freebase @ 20 mm/Hg)
>110-120 deg C (freebase @ 0.4 mm/Hg)
[NOTE: Above fb figures are Boiling Points; p_d]
147-148 to 158-159 deg C (anhydrous HCl)
soften 132 deg C, 135-139 deg C (1/4 hydrate HCl)
soften 92 deg C, 138-145 deg C (hemihydrate HCl)
soften 50 deg C, 90-132 deg C (3/4 hydrate HCl)
soften 80 deg C, 107-133 deg C (monohydrate HCl)
However, Erowid gives the Merck Index entry for MDMA where specific melting points are listed for MDMA-HCl crystallized from
specific solvent mixtures. Done with
anhydrous solvents, these figures can (IMO)can permit a fairly accurate determination.
Oil, bp0.4 100-110degrees
Hydrocholoride, C11H15NO2.HCl, crystals from isopopanol/n-hexane, mp 147-148° (Bailey). Crystals from isopropanol/ether, mp 152-153° (Braun).
Procedure
Place MDMA-HCl sample in a small diameter test tube with a thermometer placed so the tip sits in the sample. Heat over a flame and
note the temperature when it first begins to melt. Keep the heat applied until the last piece liquifies.
Noting also the the final temperature required to melt the crystal completely, you now know the melting point range.
A narrow melting point indicates higher purity. Impure substances tend to melt at lower temperatures, across a broader melting point range.
Separating other components such as amphetamine etc, can often be done by using combinations of laboratory techniques such as:
- Distilling the freebase
- Using various solvent combinations and temperature variations in extraction
- Employing elution chromatography or HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography)
With stubbornly close physical properties, sometimes derivatives are made of the components in a mixture, followed by separation by HPLC or similar techniques. It's not exactly "kitchen cleanup chemistry", in that specialized chemicals and equipment are often required.
At the risk of sounding boring, I feel obliged to remind that such efforts to preserve one's health by purification, could easily be mistaken for a synthesis by those on the look-out for such....universal care being the important message.
Edited out that link to the chemistry website