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Possible illegal precursors, etc. in legal RCs (25I-NBOMe)

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PlasticBippy

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Feb 4, 2012
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Hi, first-time poster, long-time lurker. (bluelight.nu!)

I recently went through a bad experience I would like to share.

I am an ex-pat in Japan, and I recently ordered a gram of 25I-NBOMe from a well-known overseas vendor. The package was stopped by customs and opened, and I received a postcard in the mail asking me to contact them.

They informed me that a GCMS of the package showed trace quantities of 2C-I, which is illegal here. Because the amount was so small, and because I had never had any problems with customs before, they said that they wouldn't involve the police if I signed a statement allowing them to destroy the package. Needless to say, this was a terrifying and humiliating experience, and I decided that I would never order RCs again.

However, in their infinite wisdom, the vendor has decided to reship the package without asking me first. (I got pretty depressed after the first package was destroyed, so I had neglected to contact the vendor, and wrote the money off as a loss.)

I am pretty scared right now, because Japan has a terrible legal system and, as a foreigner, I basically have no rights. (Japan is nice in other ways, though! :p ) When I asked the vendor about possible 2C-I in their product, they (flippantly) told me that they produce no 2C-I, and the problem is with the equipment used by customs.

Is that possible? I thought GCMS was absolute. Is it possible that they are lying, and the 2C-I is an unreacted precursor? Could some 25I-NBOMe have decayed en-route into 2C-I? I think that it's important the be aware of things like this before ordering "legal" chemicals from overseas.

Does anybody have any knowledge in this area? Are their any other similar pitfalls for other RCs? (For instance, is it possible for 4-AcO-DMT to turn into psilocin in the baggy?)

Thanks.
 
Might be better suited to ADD. I don't know too well about this particular drug, so can't really comment on impurities in synthesis, but it wouldn't surprise me (considering it's very similar structure) that small amounts would degrade into 2C-I.
 
It's absolutely possible. I can't think of a synthesis which would realistically avoid 2C-I contamination completely. Perhaps on a large scale it would be done differently, but you're quite right, I think the synthesis is the culprit.
 
Almost certainly not, alkylamines are pretty damn stable in standard conditions.

Synthesis leftovers would eclipse any from decay.
 
Totally possible and, I would suspect, very likely.

Almost certainly not, alkylamines are pretty damn stable in standard conditions.

Synthesis leftovers would eclipse any from decay.
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Without going into much detail, these are pretty much all made by reaction of the parent primary amine compound (e.g. 2c-i) with the corresponding benzylic aldehyde, then sodium cyanoborohydride reduction. There is a very high likelihood of trace parent amine being found in the product using a very sensitive assay method like GC/MS.
 
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Contact a lawyer and customs as soon as you can. Best to show that you are cooperating and doing what you can to stay clean.
 
Yeah exactly, if you contact them before they inform you that they intercepted it again, I'd say that is everything someone in your position could have done, just tell them you agree again to have it destroyed.

About the vendor, sounds like they are either dumb or bullshitting you. They don't need to produce 2C-I, but use it as a precursor - if they think they can purify every single atom of 2C-I out they're dreaming IMO, at least they wont use more expensive methods than necessary.
The "problem" they would be referring to is that the customs analysis methods interpret a 'trace' of something as bad enough. Well hardy fucking har, that doesn't change the reasonable possibility that they might persecute regardless of the quantity.

by the way Iodinating 25H-NBOMe is probably out of the question I assume...?
 
Unfortunately not because the methoxybenzene moiety is reactive towards iodine too and this would result in a poor yield.
 
If they bothered to purify the product properly the leftover 2C-I might be lost in the noise of NMR. They probably don't - just run the reductive amination then ship the unprocessed product after recrystallization (or perhaps that even is expecting too much)
However, there's probably some reaction you can run that would transform the leftover 2C-I into something non-illegal (but inactive), but leave the 25I untouched. I can't be bothered looking right now, but you'd want something selective for transformation of primary amines, while leaving secondary amines untouched.
 
2C-I is illegal in my country while 25i-NBOMe is not. I have been given the figure of 98% purity for a batch of 25i-NBOMe. Would anyone wager a guess of how much 2C-I there might be in it? Any educated guess would be useful.
 
Isidor said:
2C-I is illegal in my country while 25i-NBOMe is not. I have been given the figure of 98% purity for a batch of 25i-NBOMe. Would anyone wager a guess of how much 2C-I there might be in it? Any educated guess would be useful.
Click to expand...

There could be up to 2%. I got some 25I with a 2% 2c-I impurity in it recently, really if the 25x's are going to be analyzed, there's a huge chance some regular old 2cX will be found.
 
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