A Blog Called Nowhere

Agent Lemon extraction technique
for Robitussin cough syrup.

Simplified Acid/Base Extraction of DXM

Materials needed:

Clear Ammonia (non-sudsy)
Naphtha (Ronsonol, Zippo, or Red Devil
Cigarette Lighter Fluid)
Gallon-size Ziploc Baggies
Cough syrup containing only DXM or
DXM/Guaifenesin
Scissors
Pin or needle
A 2-liter jug or gallon jug with lid
Microwaveable bowl or glass pan for stove-boiling
Lemon Juice (fresh squeezed, or ReaLemon,
or one of those plastic lemons you
find in the produce section) or
Countrytime lemonade mix with SUGAR, not
aspartame.
Toothbrush and toothpaste

Procedure:

Determine how much cough syrup to buy.  Assume you will lose about 10% of
the DXM.  Wal-Mart sells 8 oz (236 ml) Equate Tussin DM for $2.49, which is the best
deal I've found.  They also sell everything else you need, so its the ideal
place to obtain materials.  There are 472mg of DXM in one 8oz (236 ml) bottle of
Tussin DM.

Do not extract more DXM than you will be taking that day unless you want to
trip on DXO.  The product will gradually turn into DXO if left overnight or
for a period of many hours.  You might like the DXO trip, but I don't.

Pour cough syrup into your gallon jug or 2-liter bottle.  Add an equal amount of
ammonia.  Shake for 30 seconds.  Add Naphtha equivalent to about 10% of the
volume of cough syrup/ammonia.  These measurements don't have to be exact,
the only thing I would advise is not to use too much ammonia (no more than
an equal amount to the cough syrup) if you are using a syrup with
guaifenesin.  An excess of ammonia will turn the guaifenesin into a slightly
oily layer, which will take a few hours to separate, rather than a few
minutes.  It sucks when this happens.

Shake your ammonia/naphtha/DXM for at least 4-5 minutes.  Shaking it longer
won't hurt.  Each molecule of DXM must touch ammonia, then naphtha, in order
to be extracted.  Each that doesn't will be lost.

Pour the mixture into a Ziploc baggie and hang it up on a nail by one of the
top corners.  You will see your mixture begin to separate, and should be
fully separated in just a couple of minutes.  Ammonia/guaifenesin/coloring
will be on bottom, and a clear layer of naphtha containing your DXM freebase on
top. You should see a perfectly clear line of separation without bubbles.
If there is a bubbly layer in the middle after 5 minutes, you've gotten oily
guaifenesin and you'll just have to wait it out.  I've noticed this happening
more with certain brands of ammonia, but the Wal-Mart Equate brand ammonia
always works great for me.

Rinse out your shaker jug very well, you're going to need it again in a
minute.

When you have a clear separation, you're going to snip a SMALL hole in the
bottom corner of the baggie, and drain out all the red stuff on the bottom.
Be sure to do this in a well-ventilated area, outside is best.  Otherwise go
into a bathroom and drain it down the sink, holding the baggie close to the
drain, with the tap running.  As you see the naphtha/DXM layer getting close
to the hole, get your jug ready.  Let a tiny bit of the naphtha out the hole,
to be SURE you're not getting any ammonia in your final product, then drain
the rest into your jug.

If you are using a colored 2-liter bottle, I'd suggest draining the naphtha
into a clear or white bowl first.  Inspect it for any reddish bubbles.  If
you're using a gallon water jug, you'll be able to spot them in the jug.  If
you see any, it means you got ammonia in your product.  AMMONIA IS TOXIC.
You must remove it before proceeding with the next step. Do this by pouring
your naphtha into another baggie, hold by a top corner.  You'll see the red
drops settle to the bottom corner.  Prick the corner with a pin and let the
ammonia drop out. Then return the product to your cleanly rinsed jug.

At this point you can either evaporate the naphtha using a blow-dryer, in a
glass pan or bowl to produce DXM freebase powder, or proceed with the
instructions below to produce DXM citrate, which I recommend over the
freebase form.  Neither form contains bromine, making both a much healthier
form of DXM than DXM HBR.

Add an amount of lemon juice equal to the amount of naphtha, or 3 oz (89 ml),
whichever is more.  If you are using freshly squeezed, strain the pulp.
Shake the lemon juice/naphtha for 5 minutes or so.  Pour into a Ziploc
baggie.  Hang by a corner.  This will take a while to separate, at least an
hour.

**Alternative** Use Countrytime lemonade mix, the kind WITH sugar, not
aspartame.  The first 3 ingredients will be sugar, fructose, citric acid.
This method works fine, and separates instantly, cutting your extraction
time from over an hour to about 20 minutes.  Use about 3 tablespoons (43 ml) of mix
to 4 oz (118 ml) of water, a much stronger mixture than if you were actually making
lemonade to drink.  The problem with this method is that if you don't use a
strong enough mixture, you will recover a lot less DXM than with lemon juice.
Don't worry about it being too strong to drink.  It tastes pretty bad, but
its actually a lot better than the lemon juice product.  Either way, you're
only drinking a couple of ounces, so it beats chugging syrup any day. Be sure
not to get the Countrytime with aspartame.  If you are not used to consuming
aspartame, using this much at once will most certainly cause a nasty
headache, which will ruin your trip.  The headache lasts for 2-3 days. If
you do regularly consume aspartame, read http://www.dorway.com to save your brain
and health while there may still be time.

When your product has separated, your DXM is now in the bottom layer, snip
the corner of the baggie and allow your product to drain into a microwave
safe bowl or glass pan for boiling on the stove.  Don't lose too much
product worrying about the naphtha layer getting into it. Try not to get any
naphtha, but if you end up with a drop or two in there don't worry.  When you
boil your final product, the naphtha will immediately rise to the top and
evaporate cleanly.

Boil the lemon juice/DXM for about 5 minutes, in the microwave or on the
stovetop.  Be careful microwaving, as the product tends to boil up and over
like noodles on a stove do.  Make sure your bowl is large enough that you
don't lose half your lemon juice over the side.  You'll be extremely pissed
if this happens.  I suggest a bowl larger then your normal sized cereal
bowl, or a very tall microwaveable glass.

Chill the lemon juice, there's less of a gag reflex that way.  Have
toothbrush and toothpaste handy, this stuff tastes like ass.  Effects kick
in in about 30 minutes, peak around 2-2.5 hours.  Some feel this is a far
cleaner and more spiritual trip than using syrup or powder.

Back to the DXM (dextromethorphan) Harm Reduction Project home page

# posted by Corny @ 7:41 PM