Seperating Levamisole from Cocaine

[badassjack]

Where is the fun in that?

In any case. I'll be happy to do what I can to help!

 

[sir_thizzalot]

Yes, I do.

I think we now have the concept. We just need some more experimentation to confirm it and tweak it. I can imagine several different methods, with various tradeoffs. Perhaps a down and dirty method and a connoisseur method. Either way, it's based on the idea that levamisole breaks down to a thiol in water at pH 4 whereas cocaine is very stable. As skillet points out, this particular thiol compound should be very easy to separate from the acidic solution with an extraction with non-polar solvent. Something like Goof-off, which is essentially xylenes, should work for this. A pH 4 buffer can be achieved easily using regular white vinegar and some lye.

So basically, we'd be looking at vinegar, lye, goof off and some basic glassware. With a little skill and/or practice, easily do-able in the kitchen.

More to follow as I learn more.

Any luck? I'm hoping to try it out soon.

 

[swim420]

SWIM is new to cocaine but seemed to enjoy the recreation !

Aside from being a purist, it is nice to know what is being ingested and what is not!
Strange how there is a law against that… /sigh.

Wondering if 5HT has had any more success with research?
The aqueous / pH4 method is appealing in its simplicity.

Simple phase recovery by bicarb - dry acetone - HCl should remove the thiol breakdown product as well as some other junk yes?
Maybe a little more bicarb as some will react with the acetic acid first.

SWIM has an OK chem set and training and is keen to play
Thanks for the discussion !

 

[ebola?]

Your novelty moniker is cool and all, but it still won't allow you to use "SWIM" on here.
You will also need some utterly brilliant posts to bring said novelty name to full fruition.

ebola

 

[swim420]

No offense intended.
Will work on required level of brilliance of course
...as the moniker said to the retrovirus.

 

[sir_thizzalot]

WHY HASN'T SOMEBODY DONE THIS YET?? i THOUGHT WE WERE SO CLOSE!!!!

I'll even try it if somebody gives me a step by step process to follow, given what 5HTguy gave above... I want to do some lines, but no more fucking cancer/cow/vet drugs!

 

[skillet]

Simple phase recovery by bicarb - dry acetone - HCl should remove the thiol breakdown product as well as some other junk yes?

That's not a bad idea, just basify the whole lot, extract (maybe filter? might be too oily depending on the amount of levamisole breakdown products) crude coke base, dissolve in acetone, add HCl in IPA or something, filter coke.HCl, breakdown products stay in acetone.

Sir Thizzalot, I don't know, I'd have a go if I knew where to get coke. It's kinda hard to give a step by step without having tried it, but to guess:

1) Take maybe 20mL distilled white vinegar per gram of coke, add NaOH solution until pH 4
2) Add the coke, re-check pH and adjust with more vinegar/NaOH if necessary, filter if needed, cover and leave for 5 days. During that time it should start to stink and you should see either an oily layer start to form, or a precipitate, depending on weather the thiol breakdown product is an oil or solid?
3) After the 5 days, if there's a precipitate - filter it, if there's an oil - extract it with naphtha
4) Add bicarb to precipitate cocaine base, filter it, dry and weigh
5) Take 0.5mL 31% HCl per gram of freebase and add to, say, 2mL of IPA
6) Dissolve freebase in acetone, add the HCl/IPA solution, refrigerate/freeze for a while then filter cocaine.HCl, wash with acetone.

 

[elf_spice]

I've heard that 3ml of ethanol will dissolve 1g of cocaine HCl, while to dissolve 1g of levamisole HCl, it would require 16ml of ethanol. Is this accurate?

 

[skillet]

3mL/g sounds about right for cocaine.HCl (this says 4mL/g) but all I can find for levamisole.HCl is 'slightly soluble'. It also sounds like levamisole.HCl is less soluble in chloroform (and I guess DCM) than cocaine.HCl.

Found this post on DF too:

The (base forms) of Procaine, benzocaine, levamisole are hexane insoluble.
Cocaine (base from) is hexane soluble.

 

[sir_thizzalot]

3mL/g sounds about right for cocaine.HCl (this says 4mL/g) but all I can find for levamisole.HCl is 'slightly soluble'. It also sounds like levamisole.HCl is less soluble in chloroform (and I guess DCM) than cocaine.HCl.

Found this post on DF too:

Would you recommend elf spice's ethanol idea then? I'll try whatever you guys recommend, there should be a g around sometime soon.. thanks for the replies.

 

[skillet]

Maybe, it would definitely be easier. It depends how much levamisole is in there though, if it's less than say 10% (maybe more) of the amount of cocaine I can't see it helping. And because you don't know the amount of cocaine in there you'll probably use more ethanol than necessary and dissolve even more levamisole.

 

[sir_thizzalot]

Maybe, it would definitely be easier. It depends how much levamisole is in there though, if it's less than say 10% (maybe more) of the amount of cocaine I can't see it helping. And because you don't know the amount of cocaine in there you'll probably use more ethanol than necessary and dissolve even more levamisole.

Seems like if you guess on the slightly lower side (say, maby 50% coke in the average coke I get? Everyone agrees it's great, I've only had better (than this guys average) when this dealer's given me even shinier chunks, that everyone's agreed is the best they've done by far) for how much % coke you have, you could get at least most of the coke, and hopefully get rid of most of the levamisole.

 

[sir_thizzalot]

I've heard that 3ml of ethanol will dissolve 1g of cocaine HCl, while to dissolve 1g of levamisole HCl, it would require 16ml of ethanol. Is this accurate?

FUCKKKK somehow I didn't do the math last time I read this, so I guess if I used the exact amount of ethanol needed to have all my cocaine soluble(or, get most of the coke out of it, but lose a little) I'd still have like 15-20+% Levamisole... which it might already be less. Not worth looking further into.

3mL/g sounds about right for cocaine.HCl (this says 4mL/g) but all I can find for levamisole.HCl is 'slightly soluble'. It also sounds like levamisole.HCl is less soluble in chloroform (and I guess DCM) than cocaine.HCl.

Found this post on DF too:

The (base forms) of Procaine, benzocaine, levamisole are hexane insoluble.
Cocaine (base from) is hexane soluble.

Now this is appealing, as I can get the really good coke I get in crack form if I want(and actually get a little more % coke for the same price I believe), seperate levamisole IF THE QUOTED STATEMENT IS TRUE, then make it back into HCL (I believe this is easy, but have never needed to do it), and have really pure levamisole free coke. This sound correct?

 

[sir_thizzalot]

That's not a bad idea, just basify the whole lot, extract (maybe filter? might be too oily depending on the amount of levamisole breakdown products) crude coke base, dissolve in acetone, add HCl in IPA or something, filter coke.HCl, breakdown products stay in acetone.

Sir Thizzalot, I don't know, I'd have a go if I knew where to get coke. It's kinda hard to give a step by step without having tried it, but to guess:

1) Take maybe 20mL distilled white vinegar per gram of coke, add NaOH solution until pH 4
2) Add the coke, re-check pH and adjust with more vinegar/NaOH if necessary, filter if needed, cover and leave for 5 days. During that time it should start to stink and you should see either an oily layer start to form, or a precipitate, depending on weather the thiol breakdown product is an oil or solid?
3) After the 5 days, if there's a precipitate - filter it, if there's an oil - extract it with naphtha
4) Add bicarb to precipitate cocaine base, filter it, dry and weigh
5) Take 0.5mL 31% HCl per gram of freebase and add to, say, 2mL of IPA
6) Dissolve freebase in acetone, add the HCl/IPA solution, refrigerate/freeze for a while then filter cocaine.HCl, wash with acetone.

Seems like my only hope right now.

So I'm looking at, maby $5 for white vinegar
$10 for NaOH 1 L (all I could find quickly online)

Explain to me the naptha extraction (if oil) please?
If the thiol breakdown is a solid, there's no chance it'll be soluble?

At step 4, it's just smokable crack, right? And step 5 and 6 are just a normal base to hcl process?

 

[sir_thizzalot]

^
Still wondering if any chemistry smarty has some insite.

From skillet "The (base forms) of Procaine, benzocaine, levamisole are hexane insoluble.
Cocaine (base from) is hexane soluble."

He's quoting drug forum though, which isn't the most credible source. Anybody else have info on this? Slightly soluble would make it not worth looking at as it'd still leave plenty of levamisole, but if it's actually not at all soluble it'd make this so easy.

 

[skillet]

Sorry I forgot to reply...

Explain to me the naptha extraction (if oil) please?
If the thiol breakdown is a solid, there's no chance it'll be soluble?

Just shake the water layer with some naphtha, separate the naphtha (with a pippette or something) and repeat with fresh naphtha. The solubility doesn't depend on weather it's solid or oil, but I'm not sure it will be soluble in naphtha if levamisole isn't; you might have to use ether or toluene or something instead.

At step 4, it's just smokable crack, right? And step 5 and 6 are just a normal base to hcl process?

Yes and yes.

Yeah it would be nice if someone with levamisole (nudge nudge 5HTguy ) could say for sure about the solubility. Otherwise you'll just have to try it. You should be able to use the breakdown by microwaving samples in bicarb solution to see if they contain levamisole. It should give an obvious smell if they do, and I'd have thought it would work with pretty small amounts.

 

[sir_thizzalot]

^
Thanks for replying. I messaged 5HTguy to see if he'd be willing to help. That'd be great if it's that simple(using hexane and the base forms), but otherwise I might eventually try out this much more difficult way, that might or might not work out well..

 

[ChemEng]

Chloroform could be the answer to the Levamisole issue

Hi -- I've lurked here for a long time, and I was worried about the levamisole HCL issue. And I hope I'm posting in the appropriate spot. If not, feel free to move this posting. The best article is in The Stranger: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-mystery-of-the-tainted-cocaine/Content?oid=4683741. The best point was that it's in 70% of intercepted cargo, meaning you should assume that ALL shipments have it.

Here's the best thing I know: Cocaine HCL dissolves in chloroform and does so well, needing only 12.5ml to dissolve one gram. And Levamisole HCL? Just about every source that has the physical properties listed for this chemical (including all the many Chinese companies who sell it by 50 KG drums!), say "It is hardly soluble in chloroform".

What that means is a of crushed material and filtering out of what ever is left could very well leave behind what might be the Levamisole HCL. And what does THAT look like? Said to be the familiar pearly scales. I'm certain that's why it's put in, that and it will make the heart race, but for 12 hours, meaning it's not just the coke (if there's even coke in your product) doing that to you.

Anyhow, I'm confident that a chloroform wash and filter could take out the Levamisole HCL, and it's appearance is supposed to be like scaly rock. That chemical scares me more than any other filler that might be added to the supply chain. Probably the best you can do is at least get chunks that look scaly but don't assume it's only the "best coke ever" that's doing it. And lastly, this stuff is apparently sold in fish stores to disinfect fish and tanks of parasites. I have a friend who's going to look for it; will be interesting if it's pure and how it looks and behaves.

 

[padrepaco]

Hi -- I've lurked here for a long time, and I was worried about the levamisole HCL issue. And I hope I'm posting in the appropriate spot. If not, feel free to move this posting. The best article is in The Stranger: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-mystery-of-the-tainted-cocaine/Content?oid=4683741. The best point was that it's in 70% of intercepted cargo, meaning you should assume that ALL shipments have it.

Here's the best thing I know: Cocaine HCL dissolves in chloroform and does so well, needing only 12.5ml to dissolve one gram. And Levamisole HCL? Just about every source that has the physical properties listed for this chemical (including all the many Chinese companies who sell it by 50 KG drums!), say "It is hardly soluble in chloroform".

What that means is a of crushed material and filtering out of what ever is left could very well leave behind what might be the Levamisole HCL. And what does THAT look like? Said to be the familiar pearly scales. I'm certain that's why it's put in, that and it will make the heart race, but for 12 hours, meaning it's not just the coke (if there's even coke in your product) doing that to you.

Anyhow, I'm confident that a chloroform wash and filter could take out the Levamisole HCL, and it's appearance is supposed to be like scaly rock. That chemical scares me more than any other filler that might be added to the supply chain. Probably the best you can do is at least get chunks that look scaly but don't assume it's only the "best coke ever" that's doing it.

And lastly, this stuff is apparently sold in fish stores to disinfect fish and tanks of parasites. I have a friend who's going to look for it; will be interesting if it's pure and how it looks and behaves.

I am very interested in this topic. Wonder if your friend already got a sample of levamisole? They have done a solubility test? insoluble in chloroform is actually levamisole?? You can remove this shit? Thank you very much and greetings from Spain

 

[Kaninchen]

Levimasole HCl has a very low solubility in isopropyl alcohol (99%), wheras cocaine HCl is quite soluble in it. So washing the powder with ~5ml per gram will have all the cocaine in the alcohol, leaving the cattle medicine in the filter paper(dry it and compare the powder to online pictures of levamasole )