Chemicals

• DXM HBr Powder
• Water (distilled is best)
• 50% NaOH solution or NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide or Lye) dissolved in a small amount of water. NaOH heats up when added to water so it may melt some plastic if mixed in it. Adding it a little at a time and waiting for it to cool in between additions can help.*

Supplies

• Gloves (rubber, neoprene or nitrile)
• Eye protection (should say Z87 on the side arm)
• PH testing paper or PH meter (should at least measure pH 7-11)
• Container (a flask with a stopper works well) Make sure it is big enough to hold the DXM, water and NaOH solution (15g DXM HBr dissolves in about 1000mL of water)
• Filter paper (a coffee filter works fine)
• Funnel (plastic or glass)
• Paper towels
• Plate (not a paper one and not one you'll be eating off of again)

Safety: Make sure to put on the gloves and eye protection before beginning. NaOH is corrosive and toxic, burning on skin contact. If this occurs rinse off with a large amount of water immediately. If eye contact occurs rinse with water immediately and seek medical attention.

1. Put the DXM HBr in the container and add water a little at a time (to a total of about 1000mL for each 15g of DXM HBr). Stopper and shake after each addition of water until it turns clear and no more powder remains. The goal is to dissolve the DXM HBr in as little water as possible.


2. Add the concentrated NaOH solution a little at a time to the container (with a pipet or eyedropper if desired), swirl and test the ph after each addition until the ph is 11; the DXM will precipitate out.


3. Put the container in the fridge if possible. If you do this label it properly so no one drinks it (again, NaOH is corrosive and toxic). Wait until the DXM aggregates (clumps together). It may take several hours to overnight for it to clump together nicely so be patient. It makes filtering much quicker and more complete this way. If using a glass container, storing it longer than this may cause the glass to slowly dissolve.*


4. Filter the precipitated DXM with the coffee filter (folded into a funnel shape in the funnel). If the filtrate (liquid) is cloudy, you didn't wait long enough in step 3; put it in the fridge again and re-filter. Wash the DXM in the funnel with water to remove residual NaOH until the pH of the water coming out the bottom of the funnel is the same as the pH of the water you used. Tap water may have a pH of 7-9, distilled water may be less (pH 5-7) due to interaction with the atmosphere which causes carbon dioxide to dissolve in it (forming carbonic acid).

5. Put a layer of paper towels on the plate and let the filter paper dry on it. The powder is freebase DXM.


Experimental yield: 95% using distilled water.


*If storing concentrated NaOH solution, use a plastic container as it can slowly dissolve glass. This will cause the solution to cloud up (dissolved sodium silicate).

extraction by viscosity