Purifying MXE

[nitrogen1]

I got some MXE that has a smell like there is some solvent left in it or something & I'm not going to use it the way it is. I figure there are three options for cleaning it up. First would be simply leaving it out on a plate for a few days or drying it in the oven. Second option is adding water & recrystallizing it (not much different but might ensure more evaporation.) Third is doing a wash with acetone. And there's always the trash if that's what must be done...

Anyone with experience or recommendations regarding this?

[original post:]

So I've got a good bit of this "pure" MXE from one of the "official suppliers" of the substance - and it's def the right stuff, and very wonderful indeed..

However, it is a slightly off white color, and has little yellow speckles in it.. I doubt it is pure.. What are the yellow speckles? I'm not sure - hopefully nothing nasty..

My question is, what would be the method to wash or recrystallize MXE? Does anyone know which solvent I'd want to use? I do K and MXE via IM, so having a pure product is important to me..

thanks!

 

[skillet]

There's no way to know what the impurity is. You may be able to wash most of it out with dry acetone, assuming it's in a salt form. First check a small amount to make sure it's not soluble in acetone (it shouldn't be) then powder it all up and stir it in several volumes of acetone, filter, wash with fresh acetone and dry.

It's better to recrystallise it though, dissolve it in the smallest amount of hot everclear you can manage (it should be entirely dissolved, otherwise filter or decant the clear solution from any residue) then add several times the volume of acetone and leave to cool. If nothing happens after a few hours add more acetone and/or put it in the freezer (covered so your freezer doesn't fill with solvent vapour). Again, I'm assuming it's not soluble in acetone, I doubt it is.

 

[Incunabula]

I might be a little naive, but wouldn´t using a good wheel-filter clean out the impurity?

 

[Bagseed]

^ only if it's not soluble in water and the particles are big enough to not pass through the filter (afaik)

 

[the toad]

On a realistic level... assuming you got the sample from a reputable supplier and have tested it via other ROAs and it seems pure... your probably better off using it as it is as opposed to doing things that you aren't very familiar with and well precticed at doing...

What I'm saying is that there's probably a greater likelihood that you'll contaminate it more by screwing with it unless your fully competent in a chem lab...

My reccomendation would be to send a sample to ecstasydata.org for gcms testing... then you'll know for sure if there is in fact an impurity and you'll then also know what it is which will make it then possible to know how to get rid of it....

 

[Coolio]

I disagree with you entirely Chemically Insane. That's not an attitude of harm reduction. There's no reason to discourage amateur chemistry projects. This is stuff a small child can do. We're adults here...

There's absolutely no way one can 'contaminate' their MXE with anything trying to wash and filter with solvents...

 

[the toad]

Injecting solvents could be very dangerous... and if someone thinks a micron filter will remove dissolved adulturants they clearly don't understand basic chemistry... I could see improper solvent washes leaving solvent in the final produlct creating a dangerous substance to inject...

Especially since we don't even know for sure if there is in fact a contaminant or what it is...I'm all for people learning chemistry... but learn in a classroom or by "apprenticeship" not by trying your very first experiment on your life.... jmo... :D

 

[skillet]

As long as the solvents are clean you can't make it less pure by trying (unless it's ridiculously impure to begin with). And sure, even when it's dry there will be tiny amounts of acetone and alcohol trappped in the crystals but they're not going to be harmful to inject. It probably already contains alcohol and acetone or ether from crystallisation in the lab that made it.

 

[oar9fi]

Leftover solvent in MXE

I got some MXE that has a smell like there is some solvent left in it or something & I'm not going to use it the way it is. I figure there are three options for cleaning it up. First would be simply leaving it out on a plate for a few days or drying it in the oven. Second option is adding water & recrystallizing it (not much different but might ensure more evaporation.) Third is doing a wash with acetone. And there's always the trash if that's what must be done...

Anyone with experience or recommendations regarding this?

 

[Asante]

A typical final solvent you might find in MXE is Decalin, this is a bicyclic aliphatic ring system, smelling somewhat like camphor and having a relatively high boiling point. Evaporating it off by heat wouldnt be good as you'd be heating the MXE to high temperatures, and letting it evaporate in air would be slow and is likely to form organic peroxides which may degrade the MXE.

Since the MXE comes as a HCl salt the most elegant way to get rid of it would be to shake the crystals with a low boiling nonpolar solvent like anhydrous ether and decanting the liquid with the solvent residues off the purified MXE which now can be airdried. Alternatively you could use freshly distilled naphta for it.

 

[oar9fi]

I don't have access to lab grade solvents or a lab- just a kitchen. Hardware store solvents are out of the question? . For the oven, I meant like 250F (just hot enough to dry it out, similar to drying out ketamine)

What are some possible impurities leftover from synthesis other than solvents? I wouldn't describe the smell as similar to camphor. I'm assuming that since there is a smell, something is evaporating. I left the bag open overnight & the smell is markedly diminished. Is simply continuing to let it air dry dangerous or does degradation just mean less potentcy? I'm guessing that most mxe has been air dried. I've never stored it in airtight containers and haven't had any problems.

 

[Solipsis]

Air drying it should not degrade it, if after a while it doesn't improve you can always use naphtha without distilling or acetone that has been dried with a desiccant. All those materials can be bought clandestinely. I have no idea which one of those solvents is better though.

Hopefully you don't mind that I merged this.

 

[Asante]

The final step in MXE synthesis is rearrangement of the completed precursor to MXE by the influence of heat. The completed precursor thus would be a logical candidate for the primary impurity. That precursor is prone to losing ethylamine under the influence of moisture, this has a fishy/ammonia odor. Does it smell something like that?

 

[oar9fi]

No, not really fishy. Not acetone- Sorry I can't be much more specific than chemical/solvent. It burned the back of my nose when I smelled it directly. It also gave a slight headache from just a quick sniff. After leaving it open & occasionally stirring it up the smell is gone completely after ~36h. I'll let it sit for another week or so before using any to be on the safe side.

It's the Chinese variety & I think they custom make each batch. The last one I had before this gave me a "dull" feeling & more dizziness the first time I used it (I used some of the previous batch that same night & wasn't expecting any difference, so it surprised me.) After a few days the nasty side effects were gone. I think that was due to the same solvent impurity in freshly made mxe. Fortunately it evaporates quickly. But I imagine it's some nasty stuff because the smell burnt my nose (I could still feel the burn the next morning.)

I'd recommend anyone with smelly mxe air it out before use. It smelled pretty toxic