jammin (Newbee) 03-26-04 13:59 No 497508				Testing new E source
						Swim have a hard time getting E where he lives, since it's illegal without a prescription. So he has bought some pills to test with from another source. However these are _quite_ expensive costing ove 1$ for two 50mg pills. Needless to say swim has to fin another source. This source it difficult to work with since its foreign and speaks very bad english. Source came with some test capsules for swim (not tables), but the looked like a mix of -lot of darkbrown -little lighter brown -little white powder... So basicly SWIM wants to confirm that there is e at all in it. What whould bee the best way to confirm this? Swim thought about doing an AB. These pills (i think) are EU-pills and not US, do they probably dont contain the same agressive gakking. These are standard capsules (starch or something?) and ground powder. So how about this... (keep in mind he's no chemist) (And he only have two pills for testing...:-( ) *-------------------------- Soak the pills in dh20 (or IPA / denatured alc?) and stirr Let stand for 1 hr Decant upperlayer, and filter this into a sepfunnel Basify with NaOH until it reaces ph 12.5 - 14 Add Toulene Shake, discard dH20 Wash 3 times with dH20 Again add som dH20 and add a drop of hcl Shake and discard Toulene Evaporate H20 layer, this should be pure E.HCl(?) (eventually taste the dH20 layer. Read it should have a distinct bitter taste) (this is assuming it dosent have any major gakk) *-------------------------- IS he way off here or what? If he is, please direct to another procedure that could confirm E content (if any). Please advice as i really need a new e source as you all see... :P Thanks in advance -jAmmin
		CharlieBigpotato (goat) 03-26-04 15:37 No 497513				too small
						that's alot of fuss to go thru for 2 pills. each of those washes will lose a little bit. you may not see any of it by the time you're evapping the water, even if it's all there at the start. can you simply taste the mixture first? or wait until you'rwe nose is stuffy and eat one and see if it decongests?
		jammin (Hive Bee) 03-26-04 16:19 No 497516				well....
						It's not so much trouble if the source can supply thousands. Having never used ephedrine im not sure if my biotest will provide much of an affirmative answer. (Placebo effect) heh I just want to determine if it is ephedrine or not.... Whats the easiest way? I dont have a cold atm, and i dont intend to sleep outside just to get one... -jAmmin
		Newton (Hive Bee) 03-26-04 21:56 No 497562				The capsules probably contain Ma Huang extract
						The capsules probably contain Ma Huang extract 8%, from your description. What colour are they? (red ?) What does the powder smell like? (like Licorice ?) ABing that powder would yield a lot less than 100mg of salts, and it will contain other alkaloids. If you get some white powder out of it, try to recrystallise it from IPA/Acetone, and determine the melting point. Or cautiously melt a little of it on a glass surface, and post a photo/scan of the pattern it forms upon cooling.