Cocaine Le Junk's Cocaine Purification Megathread v. The Final Word

[arrall]

This post would have been way better with pics. Especially the connoisseur part. Would love to see how it looks after preparing it that way.

Pics were probably a lot more annoying to upload back when this was posted in 2005, especially since it was prior to the smartphone era.

 

[Hexenstahl]

Pics were probably a lot more annoying to upload back when this was posted in 2005, especially since it was prior to the smartphone era.

Now I really miss the early 2000s

 

[cuhkane]

Yes, though lab grade acetone is of better quality than store bought, you must still specify anhydrous (no water) acetone over other lab grade acetones. You'll know you've found the right one by the price $$$$$.

And getting into each and every cut that can be removed by every single solvent would be very time consuming. If you want to give me a few selected cuts you have in mind, I'd be happy to look them up for you, but not every single one.

I would strongly suggest buying the book, "The Cocaine Handbook", by David Lee. It's no longer in circulation, but can be purchased used thru sources such as amazon.com etc. It is the absolute Bible on cocaine. Everything your looking for is in there, believe me!

Junk

you should write your own book and we will all buy it

 

[citypress100]

So, reading through all of Le Junk's posts I'm still unclear on what his final word is on the best method for purification - the main 2 methods he suggested are:

- 'The Triple wash' - Ethanol wash, Chloroform wash, Acetone Wash
- Freebase and back -Conversion to freebase, then AB converstion to HCl (option to wash the freebase with Hexane to remove Levamisole inbetween)

I imagine both work well, but did he land on a preferred method overall? I'm in the UK, so don't see levamisole much - mostly ephedrine and cuts like caffeine, lidocaine etc.

 

[0bad0boy7]

Everyone keeps saying step one, or if you have base already start at sept two. … there are no numbered steps.

 

[0bad0boy7]

Also, does anyone know what type of ammonia you need to use for the lejunk method no heat method? Most places online say Ammonia, one place specified NH3, most of them listed below are labeled as NH4 which one should be used.

these are just of some of the options
A. Acetate
A. Bicarbonate
A. Carbonate
A. Citrate
A. Hydroxide
A. Sulfate

etc.

 

[citypress100]

You

Also, does anyone know what type of ammonia you need to use for the lejunk method no heat method? Most places online say Ammonia, one place specified NH3, most of them listed below are labeled as NH4 which one should be used.

these are just of some of the options
A. Acetate
A. Bicarbonate
A. Carbonate
A. Citrate
A. Hydroxide
A. Sulfate

etc.

It's ammonia solution, so NH3 + H2O

 

[0bad0boy7]

You

It's ammonia solution, so NH3 + H2O

Thank you! If you know of a more complete treaties written on this process maybe with variations even I would love to see it. For instance a useable ammonia seams a bit hard to find in the right form and a significant concentration. For instance, I am more familiar with other A/B extractions but I’m not going to try with out someone with more background than me at least advising. The older way after ammonia was to pull the base with die-Ethel-ether (sorry for the phonetic spelling). It was probably done that way on purpose, but I bet there are alternatives, Lye super common base, but I don’t know what the solvent would be that would leave 100% of the lye, and take all the goods out to precipitate in that. I really would’ve gone so much further in life if I would’ve went to high school!

 

[citypress100]

Thank you! If you know of a more complete treaties written on this process maybe with variations even I would love to see it. For instance a useable ammonia seams a bit hard to find in the right form and a significant concentration. For instance, I am more familiar with other A/B extractions but I’m not going to try with out someone with more background than me at least advising. The older way after ammonia was to pull the base with die-Ethel-ether (sorry for the phonetic spelling). It was probably done that way on purpose, but I bet there are alternatives, Lye super common base, but I don’t know what the solvent would be that would leave 100% of the lye, and take all the goods out to precipitate in that. I really would’ve gone so much further in life if I would’ve went to high school!

I usually do a freebase conversion with Ammonia, then wash it depending on what it's cut with (so use of an organic solvent etc), then convert back to HCl. I think people prefer to use weaker bases to cook crack as they don't intend to take the process any further.

But if you plan to use Ammonia, get some litmus paper and keep an eye on your pH levels as you add the ammonia (just run the glass rod over the litmus paper) - I usually aim for a pH of 10-11 and let it sit for 10-20 mins to ensure all the coke freebase has precipitated out.

 

[0bad0boy7]

I have a good pin ph tester with a huge range. You are still adding drop-wise and removing/discarding everything that precipitates until you get pure white precipitation (seams like there should be a better cut off detection method) then you stop adding decant and filter, discarding all solids, and then just add to the newly filtered vessel enough for that 10-11 ph, drop-wise not necessary at that point.

My understanding is that this process would produce free base, not needing additional reactions, other than a good washing with H2O. What cuts would base out last along with the goods we are after?

 

[G_Chem]

Thank you! If you know of a more complete treaties written on this process maybe with variations even I would love to see it. For instance a useable ammonia seams a bit hard to find in the right form and a significant concentration. For instance, I am more familiar with other A/B extractions but I’m not going to try with out someone with more background than me at least advising. The older way after ammonia was to pull the base with die-Ethel-ether (sorry for the phonetic spelling). It was probably done that way on purpose, but I bet there are alternatives, Lye super common base, but I don’t know what the solvent would be that would leave 100% of the lye, and take all the goods out to precipitate in that. I really would’ve gone so much further in life if I would’ve went to high school!

Never use lye (sodium hydroxide) for basing cocaine, it’s far too strong.

-GC

 

[citypress100]

I have a good pin ph tester with a huge range. You are still adding drop-wise and removing/discarding everything that precipitates until you get pure white precipitation (seams like there should be a better cut off detection method) then you stop adding decant and filter, discarding all solids, and then just add to the newly filtered vessel enough for that 10-11 ph, drop-wise not necessary at that point.

My understanding is that this process would produce free base, not needing additional reactions, other than a good washing with H2O. What cuts would base out last along with the goods we are after?

The problem with your plan is that some cuts have a very similar pka to cocaine, so trying to separate the substances by pH level is not possible (unless you are 100% what is in there and the pka difference is big enough).

The majority of the precipitate will be white and it will be difficult to identify the salts from sight alone - some cut freebases form a clear liquid, other might form oils at a higher temperature depending on their boiling point.

Bottom line is unless you are prepared to identify the cuts beforehand and then select an appropritate separation method, most of the cuts will be in your crack.

 

[0bad0boy7]

Never use lye (sodium hydroxide) for basing cocaine, it’s far too strong.

-GC

Statements should normally be qualified just like this rebuttal would be. I can guarantee that 1 mg of lye diluted with 100 gallons of H2O would be too weak so strength is about concentration and anything can be diluted.

 

[0bad0boy7]

The problem with your plan is that some cuts have a very similar pka to cocaine, so trying to separate the substances by pH level is not possible (unless you are 100% what is in there and the pka difference is big enough).

The majority of the precipitate will be white and it will be difficult to identify the salts from sight alone - some cut freebases form a clear liquid, other might form oils at a higher temperature depending on their boiling point.

Bottom line is unless you are prepared to identify the cuts beforehand and then select an appropritate separation method, most of the cuts will be in your crack.

If true, this is bummer news. The whole point of the TEK according to le junk, is that almost all common cuts will base out before as a colored goo, and the signal when that is finished, is that you start precipitating solid white thus giving you pure as you can get freebase cocaine.

 

[G_Chem]

Statements should normally be qualified just like this rebuttal would be. I can guarantee that 1 mg of lye diluted with 100 gallons of H2O would be too weak so strength is about concentration and anything can be diluted.

Fair enough... You’re more than welcome to waste cocaine until you dial it in. Or you can not risk it at all and use sodium bicarbonate which is found just about anywhere, and will be less likely to freebase active cuts. Hot water washes are a necessity no matter which route, and will remove all traces of baking soda along with other cuts.

-GC

 

[citypress100]

If true, this is bummer news. The whole point of the TEK according to le junk, is that almost all common cuts will base out before as a colored goo, and the signal when that is finished, is that you start precipitating solid white thus giving you pure as you can get freebase cocaine.

No unfortunately it doesn't work that way. The Ammona will react with all the substance in the solution, some more than others based on their pka, but your coke will begin to turn to freebase immediately. By pH 8.6 (its pka) it will be 50% freebase and 50% HCl. by the time you reach a pH of around 10-11, it will be 100% freebase.

Just a few examples of cuts with pkas that make this separation method impossible: Lidocaine: 7.9, Ephedrine: 9.7.

If you want clean gear you first need to find out what cuts are present (you can buy a selection of reagents to help with this). Once you know what you are dealing with you can consider methods such as liquid-liquid separation, which relies on the difference in solubiities of substances. Even a simple hot water wash of your freebase will help remove some cuts with a lower melting point such as Lidocaine and Ephedrine.

 

[0bad0boy7]

You

It's ammonia solution, so NH3 + H2O

Would another base like NH4 OH ammonia hydroxide be suitable? It’s the only one I can find with a sufficient concentration.

 

[0bad0boy7]

Would another base like NH4 OH ammonia hydroxide be suitable? It’s the only one I can find with a sufficient concentration.

No unfortunately it doesn't work that way. The Ammona will react with all the substance in the solution, some more than others based on their pka, but your coke will begin to turn to freebase immediately. By pH 8.6 (its pka) it will be 50% freebase and 50% HCl. by the time you reach a pH of around 10-11, it will be 100% freebase.

Just a few examples of cuts with pkas that make this separation method impossible: Lidocaine: 7.9, Ephedrine: 9.7.

If you want clean gear you first need to find out what cuts are present (you can buy a selection of reagents to help with this). Once you know what you are dealing with you can consider methods such as liquid-liquid separation, which relies on the difference in solubiities of substances. Even a simple hot water wash of your freebase will help remove some cuts with a lower melting point such as Lidocaine and Ephedrine.

this is good info. It seams like the true best method would be to get a fair amount of gear, and sit on it while sending a gram to a drug checking lab. Their gas chromatography or whatever method they use will list all of the ingredients in your sample. Then you can devise a plan for the best process to make for a pure free base for that batch you have. But it would need to be repeated each time your score this might be the best plan of action.

 

[citypress100]

Would another base like NH4 OH ammonia hydroxide be suitable? It’s the only one I can find with a sufficient concentration.

NH4OH is ammonia solution, I just write it out as NH3 + H2O as a reminder of the free water molecules (depending on the concentration of ammonia).

 

[0bad0boy7]

NH4OH is ammonia solution, I just write it out as NH3 + H2O as a reminder of the free water molecules (depending on the concentration of ammonia).

So the best NH3 I can find is 5% solution the other 95% being water. I have some excuse for needing a lot and said I would like a stronger concentration, and the worker recommended when he called “full strength” ammonia, hydroxide NH4 OH which is ballpark 28%. The only specifications of red so far is NH3 so I’m wondering if NH4 OH would be compatible