from a forum I used to admin...
These are the syrup preparations, that have been tested and work with this method of extraction:
(Robitussin Max Strength, Robitussin DM, Robitussin Cough - Long Lasting, CVS Brand Max Strength, Histal DM)
Please let me know if you come across any others that work, this is going to be a progressive listing.
-These are the syrup preparations that will not work:
Vicks44 (any variation)
Equaline DM
-It's a good idea to familiarize yourself with this process well before attempting to execute it. It helps in case something happens mid-step and makes it easier to take pro-active action to avoid waste / injury.
- Also, if you have the time, please read through some of the replies to this thread as there are some very valuable suggestions / tips from experienced chemists and various individuals.
-Throughout this recipe the term 'clean' (as in the verb) is used. This means thorough washing with some kind of detergent / soap and a thorough rinse, not just a wipe with a towel or towel paper. Just an FYI.
You will need:
- Cough Syrup (Any Syrup that has no active ingredients aside from CPM - a.k.a Chlorpheniramine Maleate, Pseudoephedrine, Acetaminophen and / or Gufenesin . This method will remove all of those and leave you with DXM only / I CAN NOT GUARANTEE THE REMOVAL OF ANY OTHER ACTIVE INGREDIENTS ASIDE FROM THOSE JUST LISTED)
- Ziplock bags (gallon size freezer bags work well)
- Naphtha (some people use lighter fluid or other kinds of spirits to replace this, I don't recommend doing that, Naphtha for sure, evaporates fairly clean) You can find this at any hardware / paint store, just ask for it.
- Clear, Non-Sudsy Ammonia (make sure it has no dyes, no surfactants or perfumes. A quick way to test if it's sudsy or non sudsy is to shake the bottle, if little bubbles gather at the top, it's sudsy. I've noticed that some brands of ammonia will say sudsy, but they're really not. Always test to make sure before you buy it.)
- 3 Large size glass mason jars (Some people use two-liter bottles etc. I say use glass, it's easy to clean, and you can always smell it to make sure you've gotten all the nasty stuff out after cleaning.)
- Duct tape or something that will hold a ziplock bag full of fluid hanging off the edge of a table.
- Large glass baking dish (can be anything EXCEPT metal i.e.. ceramic / porcelain, clear glass makes it easy to see crystal growth though.)
- Hair blow dryer (this is optional, but having it speeds things along.)
- Scissors or pin
- Large jug of some sort (for syrup waste collection / can be made of any material, doesn't have to be glass.)
- Razor blade
- GOOD VENTILATION WHERE EVER YOU'RE DOING THIS (brain damage from inhaling naphtha vapors, is not fun.)
Ok, on to the good stuff. Make sure your jars and the baking pan are clean before you start, a little bit of dishwashing liquid works fine before and after the process for cleaning. The cleaner and more organized you are ahead of time, the less chance for process-screwups and chemical accidents.
Before beginning the extraction process below, fill one of the mason jars about halfway with Naphtha, and then fill the remainder of the jar with water until the jar is about 3/4 full. Close the jar tightly and shake for a good 30 to 40 seconds. Do this about twice and then pour the mixture into a ziplock bag and allow it to separate.
The naphtha will be on top, and the water will be on the bottom. Get your waste jug ready. Hang up the ziplock back by one of the corners (close it first of course) and snip a small hole in the corner pointing to the floor. Allow the water to drain out into your waste jug and capture the Naphtha into another jar. Clean the jar you used to pour the Naphtha into originally, you will need it later. You have now given your Naphtha a 'water-bath' and have removed most of the water-soluble bullshit.
1. Pour the syrup you're extracting from into the jars. If you have a lot of syrup to extract from (more than three 4oz bottles) Split the amount between the two jars. The idea here is that you want to make sure you don't fill the jars more than half way with syrup. You're going to need the space for the other chemicals.
2. Add an equal amount of your ammonia to the syrup in the jars, it doesn't have to be perfect, but approximate.
3. Close the jars / jar tight and shake mixture for about 20 seconds.
4. Open the jars back up and add 1/10 (one tenth) of the amount of fluid already in the jar, of Naphtha. Be careful not too add a whole lot because this will slow you down later on during naphtha evaporation. Also, beware of the fumes they are toxic and this stuff just stinks!
5. Shake this mixture for about 40 seconds to a minute.
6. Pour your mixture into a gallon ziplock bag (again, make sure you don’t fill the fuckin thing up, leave at least a 1/3 of the bag empty) and duct tape (or hang by whatever method you chose to do so) it up by one of the corners (with the zipper part on the top of course) so that a corner is pointing towards the floor.
Immediately you should see a separation between the red bullshit in the syrup, and the clear layer of Naphtha, which will be on top. What you want from this mixture, is the clear layer on the top, and NONE OF THE RED STUFF. I can not stress this point enough. The red shit is toxic ammonia infested syrup shit. This is important to know for the next step.
Some syrups have gufenesin (the 'expectorant' in Robitussin DM) in them, and this will sometimes cause a bubbly frothy layer to be present within the clear layer, if this happens to you (and you're sure you didn't use sudsy ammonia) you're gonna have to wait until all those bubbles pop, and you've got a straight clear layer on the top before proceeding to the next step.
Make sure you have one of your glass mason jars clean and ready for Naphtha collection in the next step.
7. After you've got a clear, see through layer of Naphtha at the top of your mixture, get your waste collection jug ready, and snip a small hole / poke a tiny hole with a pin (scissors work so much better IMO) and slowly let the red bullshit drain out of the bag. As you start to get close to the clear layer, get your other clean glass mason jar ready to catch it (the clear Naphtha layer). It's ok to let a little bit of the clear fluid drain out to ensure you don't catch ANY of the red stuff, but don't let too much out, this clear layer contains your DXM molecules, which we will be preparing for crystallization in the next few steps.
8. !!VERY IMPORTANT STEP!! Once you've collected your clear Naphtha layer, take it over to a light and make sure you don't have any red dots / liquid in it. If you do, just pour the Naphtha into another ziplock bag, and drain it the way you did before, the red ammonia / syrup shit will always sink to the bottom. Make sure you wash out your glass jar before re-collection as well if you have to repeat step 8 again.
NOTE: I have come to the conclusion, that about three Naphtha baths are needed to extract almost 'all' of the DXM contained in the syrup. So, repeat steps one through eight, two more times if you're all about getting every single drop of DXM out of the syrup, and collect all your Naphtha / DXM mixture at once.
9. Now comes the fun part. Take your clear Naphtha / DXM mixture and pour it into your glass pan (beware of toxic fumes!). You can take two routes at this point:
9.a. - You can put the pan outside somewhere where no one will fuck with it and let the Naphtha evaporate off by itself (this stuff has a really low boiling point)
9.b. - Go outside and take a blow dryer and carefully blow over the mixture until it evaporates (beware of toxic fumes!).
9.a. Will take you at least 30 minutes, 9.b. will take you about 10 to 15 minutes. In both cases MAKE SURE YOU ARE EVAPORATING NAPHTHA IN AN AREA WITH GOOD VENTILATION, INHALING NAPHTHA CAUSES BRAIN DAMAGE ALONG WITH OTHER HEALTH COMPLICATIONS also, if you're going to be blow drying the stuff, try to keep your face away from the pan to avoid toxic fumes or consider purchasing an organic solvent respirator from your local paint store.
Remember, evaporation will always take place much quicker, when there is a higher surface area to volume ratio. The thinner the layer of Naphtha within the pan, the quicker it will evaporate off.
10. After the Naphtha has totally evaporated, you will be left with a menthol-like smelling sticky clear goo at the base of the pan. It's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the way that Naphtha smells, I'm not saying huff the shit, but it's how you can tell if it has all evaporated, it has a very distinct smell, which should not be present after this point.
Wallah! This is your DXM (the clear goo), but we can't use it this way (well we could, but it would be a total hassle) so you leave it for a while longer to let it crystallize.
This thread: (
http://www.dextroverse.org/forums/index ... 26&t=13974) has some great pictures / advice on how to get this crystallization started, as well as the whole freebase extraction process and what the end product looks like. It speaks of putting the pan in the fridge and letting it cool to jumpstart crystallization, which does work, but I find that crystallization takes place much quicker when a hair blow dryer is used and the pan is very dry and warm.
Also, sprinkling some powder over the goo from previous extractions (freebase DXM powder that is) will help to speed up crystal growth as well.
As the goo starts to crystallize, scrape from the crystallized areas into the goo areas to speed up crystal growth. When the entire pan is crystallized, take a razor blade and scrape / chop it into powder. Smell the powder to ensure that it doesn't smell like Naphtha. It will have a very strong menthol-like smell. Your powder should be ranging in color from pure snow white, to a slight yellow tinge. If you end up with anything else (grey, white with back specks etc), throw it out and start over, it's not worth the risk of damaging your brain or body if something did go wrong.
BAM! You've got DXM freebase which you can now:
1. Dump in a shot of alcohol and dose
2. Dump in something moderately acidic and dose (this would then be DXM citrate, also known as agent lemon)
3. Put in a gelcap and dose (after ensuring that stomach conditions will be very acidic, this stuff is not easily water soluble, it is easily dissolved into acid or alcohol, keep this in mind when dosing powder in general)
ADDITIONAL NOTES: You can not smoke DXM freebase. You will end up inhaling disgusting scorched chemical nastiness.
Some people have attempted to snort DXM freebase; while I can not say from personal experience if this is effective or not, I do know this: DXM freebase must be converted to an acid-salt / solubilized within alcohol for the body to be able to efficiently absorb it into the bloodstream, it is not very soluble in water at all (i.e. which is what lines the nasal passages within it's mucus)
DEXTROMETHORPHANHYDROCHLORATE PREPARATION / ADDITIONAL STEPS (originally by Agent Poon-K-Off / Source: DXM Zine no. 16)
What exactly is this? This is the final product of following the next few steps if you have the chemicals and the proper equipment with which to work with them. The great thing about this method / addition, is that the result is going to be totally digestible, no absorption problems or a need to mix it with alcohol or assist it's absorption with acidic stomach contents. You can just pop it and that's it
YOU ARE GOING TO NEED GLASSWARE TO WORK WITH HYDROCHLORIC ACID AT ALL TIMES! That means no plastic nothing nowhere, you run the risk of it melting and chemicals ending up in your final product. You have been warned.
What you will need:
- glass beaker or jar
- glass pipette / eye dropper
- hydrochloric acid
Step 1
Take your DXM (freebase) crystals / powder and dump into glass beaker / jar, then fill the glass with water and stir. The DXM should be suspended (but not dissolved) in the water (which should make the water white and foggy).
Step 2
Add Hydrochloric Acid drop wise to the suspension while stirring, you should notice the cloudiness will start to disappear. Keep doing this until the solution is fully clear but don’t overdo it as any excess HCI will leave extra unwanted residue. You now have a near pure DXM HCI Solution.
Step 3
Leave the DXM HCI solution in a warm/ventilated area until it has evaporated into crystals. You now have near pure DXM HCI crystals WELL DONE!
TIP: Any HCI solution should be left in a well ventilated area to evaporate as HCI will release a fume WHICH IS VERY TOXIC AND WILL BURN IF BREATHED IN!
TIP: I don’t recommend anyone evaporating any HCI solution with a hair dryer as more fumes are released.
