So i was researching on ways to recrystallize finely powdered mdma hcl that i have obtained (1.6g) @ washed with dry acetone 3x, and i came across a methamphetamine recrystallization procedure that uses acetone and ethanol.

Now i have no interest in methamphetamine, but mdma is well, very chemically similar to methamphetamine. As well, i've done this with mescaline hcl before, but only a single solvent ethanol re-x without acetone.

Basically i just heated dry etoh on an electric hotplate to near boiling temps, (i just don't feel comfortable around boiling dry etoh), dissolved my mescaline hcl in the solvent, and let it cool.

It gave very good results, and some very nice shards some ~1/2" long, and the whitest mescaline i've ever made upon powdering the crystals.

But, that was a single solvent re-x, and i had to evap all the etoh to get all the mescaline out. The more it evaporated, the dirtier the crystals became, due to the impurities becoming more concentrated.

Now, i know mdma is almost insoluble in acetone, and quasi-soluble in hot dry, etoh. My question is, would a non-water miscible far more non-polar solvent work better at causing the crystals to crash out of the etoh solution?

Obviously you would want to do it slowly, but i'm thinking of trying this, by just using a larger volume of warm dry etoh, and slowly add heptane to the etoh with a dropper, like you would with fasa.

My rational here being it would grow larger, more pure crystals, rather than a bunch of smaller crystals quickly if you dumped a bunch of heptane in right away.

BTW, i'm using denatured dry alcohol, so its not 100% etoh. But the denaturants, are methanol @ %3.70, which should help the mdma dissolve since its more polar than etoh, along with methyl isobutyl ketone at 1.91%, ethyl acetate @ 1.33%, and naptha at .67%.

Here's the msds-

Ethanol MSDS

I don't think the minute amount of naphta will cause any issues, and i won't be consuming any of the crystals until 2x 99.99% dry acetone washs, so any remaining solvent residue will be cleaned away (though the etoh & heptane both pass the evap test).

The heptane i plan on using is also clean, and passes the evap test. Its the bestine brand, and 100% pure heptane according to its msds-

heptane msds

Just wondering if anyone has tried this before, or has any input to add.

I'm going to do it anyway, since if it fails theres no real loss, but thought i'd get a conversation started about this idea, and perhaps it would work with mescaline hcl as well . In fact i'll prob do them both at the same time. The mesc is off white, and has been acetone washed and distilled water re-x'd many times. Its very clean stuff with very little smell.

Anyway, expect some pics, and a rundown of the procedure over the next two days. I'll be sure to take detailed notes, and take pics of the process.

So in the event its successful, i can write up a cool re-x tek for phenethylamines like mescaline, and mdma to get very large, and pure crystals using a relatively polar dry alcohol (etoh), and a very NP hydrocarbon solvent (heptane).

But there could be tons of other solvents you could use as well, meoh, isopropyl, other alcohols, as well as the plethora of non-polar, non water miscible solvents, that would work via this binary solvent re-x procedure.


And for anyone who wants to ask whats the purpose of this, a few reasons-

1. Purity. If you can get large geometric crystals, you can reasonably expect it to be near pure mdma (or mescaline), since impurites/contaminants would inhibit large crystal growth.

2. Crystals. Crystal porn, don't act like you don't like it...........

3. For the sake of expirementation, and the possibility of a safer tek to do alcohol re-x's on mescaline/mdma that don't require you to boil the etoh to get it to full saturation with minimal etoh. My theory is the heptane will cause it to crash out better than just heating etoh, dissolving your mesc/mdma, and cooling. Thus you can use a bit more etoh, and not heat that extremely flammable stuff any more than necessary.

Enough rambling, i'm off to get started . Expect updates over the next few days.............

peace

DT

I cant give you any advice on this but i am curious how it went and did you get some nice crystals?
If it was successful plz tell how you did the procedure and some comments of this.
Some pics would be nice too.
Interesting stuff, MDMA are one of the few things i could experiment with.
Love the coozy loving everything feeling.

Grower

I'm actually embarking on this exact same journey. I found a half ounce of mdma in an old hiding place and thought it would be fun to clean it up.

so far i've done 2 individual grams washed in very warm acetone. the first gram's post re-x weight was 250mg and the second was 200mg. both cleaned up to pristine white with just the acetone wash. right now i'm waiting for a 2g re-x to finish.

after 3 acetone washes what did your 1.6g come to?

can't wait to see your progress

peace

ps

well, the mdam or the mescaline did not precipitate like i wanted it to.

I think my solvent was too hydrated, or got hydrated in the process.

None, the less, the mescaline, grew tiny shard like 1/2cm crystals, that remained upon evaporation. Then i powdered it and washed with acetone again.

Did the same with the mdma, but it precipitated a lot later, and the crystals were not as sparkly/pretty as the mesc.

After grinding to a fine powder, and washing 3 with minimal dry acetone, i only lost 5% of my inputs, and the products were noticeably more whitish, and the crystals seemed larger before i crushed them.

It worked good to get the impurities caught up in the crystal lattice of the substance out, and precipitate more pure compounds, but it just did not work out as a re-x tek.

Adding heptane did nothing to help precipitation for some reason. Mesc hcl/mdma hcl were dealing with here.

Still, it was worth the effort to clean up the product a bit more.