How to extract chemicals from over the counter products 

A part of the final exam for an organic chemistry lab course was to follow a synthetic procedure to get a product. They did it in pairs. So a couple of students got to prepare acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin). At the end they were supposed to get crystals but instead they were left with some wierd yellow oil with no chance to crystallize. They were sure they had failed the test. Until one of them remembered he had a pack of aspirin pills in his backpack. Bingo! They quickly crushed them, extracted with chloroform, and recrystallized to get really nice crystals. So the prof came and examined the product. He asked them many questions about the procedure, reaction conditions etc. At the end he scratched his head and said: "You know, every year we get this wierd yellow oil, but you guys were the first to get crystals!"

We all know why were here

I think it would have actually been interesting to see the video of the failed lidocaine extraction, to see what can happen and the creative thinking that goes with trying to solve unexpected issues.

Are you making fake cocaine ? I mean cafeine and lidocaine… ._.

I've been looking for this since I first discovered psychedelics.

How to extract DMT: a step-by-step guide **Please spread this information as far and wide as possible; everybody deserves to know.** **Materials:** \- 100g powdered mimosa hostilis, acacia confusa, or acacia acuminata root bark \- 100ml 5% acetic acid (distilled white vinegar) \- 200ml nonpolar solvent (naphtha VM&P OR xylene) \- 1800ml distilled water \- 120g sodium hydroxide (lye) \- 140g sodium chloride (deiodized salt) \- Large glass pipette (with small tip) \- Milligram scale (to weigh product) \- Flat-top scale (to weigh bark) \- 4000ml glass mason jar \- 500ml glass beaker \- Glass bowl/dish (to freeze precipitate) \- Glass vial (to store product) \- Spash-proof goggles \- Lab coat OR long-sleeve attire \- Latex/rubber gloves \- Respirator OR dust mask **Procedure:** 1. Add 140g sodium chloride and 400ml distilled water to 500ml beaker to create a saturated saline solution (heat bath as necessary) 2. Place 100g powdered MHRB in mason jar 3. Add 1000ml distilled water and 100ml distilled white vinegar to mason jar 4. Stir every 5 minutes for 30 minutes 5. Soak for 30 minutes 6. Decant 400ml of saturated saline solution to mason jar 7. Add 120g sodium hydroxide and 400ml distilled water to 500ml beaker to create a basified solution 8. Decant 400ml of basified solution to mason jar 9. Stir every 5 minutes for 30 minutes 10. Soak for 30 minutes 11. Add 100ml nonpolar solvent 12. Stir every 15 minutes for 1 hour 13. Let layers separate for 24 hours 14. Use pipette to siphon the top layer (nonpolar solvent) into glass bowl/dish 15. Freeze at -18C (0F) for 24 hours until crystallization is finished 16. Pour excess solvent back into mason jar (add 50ml solvent as necessary) 17. Turn dish upside down and let crystals dry for 24 hours 18. Scape up crystals and place into glass vial, repeat steps 14-18 (3x) 19. Clean all glassware and properly dispose of leftover chemicals 20. Vaporize and inhale crystals to explore the inner workings of the universe **Safety Information:** * Always assume all chemicals are toxic * Use acetic acid to neutralize all sodium hydroxide spills * Extinguish any flames prior to beginning the procedure * If any chemicals come into contact with skin, neutralize and rinse skin with water * Fume hood or outbound-facing fan recommended * Do not consume product alongside lithium or tramadol * Consuming product may cause cosmic epiphanys **Good luck.

Thank you for all the work you're doing, I find every video of yours extremely entertaining and informative. Keep up the great work! I have one question: Where do you generally find all the instructions for the synthes you do? I've tried googling some of the work you've done, but couldnt find any PDFs or anything alike. Would be happy to get a response.

As a wastewater treatment technician, Nile Red's Videos keeps my mind fresh and with ideas!

I came here to learn how to extract pseudoephedrine from cold medicine.

My day instantly gets better when I see a new Nile Red video. Also, do you think it's possible you could synthesize Menthol?

How did you separate the povidone from the caffeine? They share the same solvents. Does the povidone have a lower boiling/evap temp and so was evaporated with the alcohol/water?

I love your videos so much! they make me motivated to do chemistry

To take out the color from the pills, you have to add some activated carbon and reach boiling point a few times. Filter it off while hot with a bed of celite and get rid of the activated carbon.

crean en Jesús Cristo y tendrán vida eterna y paz entreguénce a Jesús Cristo ahora mismo en oración Dios quiere darte Vida Eterna

I'm impressed by your knowledge. So far you've taught me how to make acetone ,ethanol more. Thanks👍

Dear FBI, BATFE and DEA, I'm just having a binge of watching about extraction and drilling lowers simply because I'm bored and tired. Please don't break into my house.

Could you please tell me how we extract Latex from cocaine?

All of a sudden, i want to shave my head, grow a goatee, wear a fedora, buy an RV, and live in Albuquerque NM

This is a great video detailing extraction methods that goes over some important stuff, thanks for posting it.

DEA has entered the chat👮👀

Meth is shit drug, bring back mdma

In east Europe almost every single teenager is a Chemist 🧑‍🔬 We love spending our days and nights in the kitchen, making our parents proud 😊

Clandestine chemistry. I FUCKIN LOVE IT.

Come and listen to the story of a man named Jed, a poor mountaineer who became an Acid Head, then one day after dropping LSD, took a mail order course in organic chemistry.

Note: when you got tensides you should always try breaking the emulsion (if it is one) or check for a helper substance which is in a tablet that can act as Emulgator. It’s important to remove Tensides first to avoid a low extraction rate

I just want some codeine phosphate

I've always been wondering how to do this stuff myself! thanks!:)

Weird how to get dichloromethane

I'm so confused. How would recrystallising the caffeine purify it? I thought the povidone was still in the solution with it. Wouldn't it just recrystallise both the povidone and the caffeine?

Man this is too long I js want some codeine :(

Great video with an intriguing method. As a home chemist, I will certainly be trying this method.

Just tell us how to extract codeine from Tylenol, what the hell is this? I get caffeine from my coffee.

how did he get rid of the povidone as it was soluble in the same things as caffeine

I uses to extraxt dxm from shyrup to get high. Thats how I got introduced into chemistry

I respect you because you are sharing knowledge. That's it! :)

tryin extract ketamine

Sorry for my ignorance but, exactly, what separates the povidone from the caffeine if they are diluted together? If you evaporate the dcm, supposedly you get not only caffeine but also povidone in the final results right?

Welcome to the watchlist

Thanks. I was searching for this to learn how to extract phenylephrine from cold medicine. In my country you can only find it OTC combined with acetaminophen . I can stand the pain, fever and headaches during colds but the stuffy nose kills me and I've abused nasal sprays too much...

So how would a guy clean fats from naptha so it can be resused for say an alkoid extraction??haha. Loving your videos. Always wanted to go chem, but life had other plans

Hey Nile Red, where do you get the procedures and steps and general ideas for videos from? Any online sources? I'm curious because I'd like to start doing some more types of this work in my lab (as opposed to class "kitchen" chemistry). Thanks!

Can someone tell me how pregabalin is made

Hey guys, I have 2 questions. Ive been trying to make potassium chlorate from 14% sodium hypochlorate but for some reason im doing stuff wrong. Ive tried 7 times and my only successful run yielded about 3 grams. I was also trying to make nitric acid with HCl copper and a nitrate salt (im only 15 so I dont own a fractional distillation apparatus) from an Erlenmeyer flask with a a tube connected to it. So ive successfully gotten NO2 gas but when I bubble it in water I just get a blue solution( witch im thinking is copper sulfate).And doesnt react whatsoever with copper or silver but it bubble when it comes in contact with lime. So anyone have any ideas on whats up with that?

Please be a chemistry teacher if you're not already. You are amazing at explaining things.

Could you do a video about extracting alkaloids from plants (ex. Datura)?

I was pretty fed up with lactose in my medication so I started to extract the Temazepam and it forms such lovely crystals after an ethanol or methanol extraction but I feel like it kills the potency, perhaps during the drying stage in which I left it covered with some paper towel overnight for all of the solvent to evaporate so I never really continued doing so but the crystals which form are very beautiful and there is something about having crystals of Temazepam which made me a little giddy inside.

I will definitely be a patron soon. My neighbor had a thing for me and asked me one day "is there anything you don't know?" I did a quick inventory. Celestial mechanics, electronics and chemistry." So I took a summer coarse on astronomy at a local Community college, built my own telescope and could point out most of the constellations for the average lay person. I'm no Michio Kaku. I've been an auto/truck mechanic for over 15 years so I actually did know enough electronics to fix my car and I was an (real) electricians helper so I can do any home repair project all that's left is CHEMISTRY!!!! Bwahh ha ha haaaaa

Hi bro, can u tell me how to remove pseudoefredine from cough syrup plz

A little something from eMedicine Emergency: The symptoms of lidocaine toxicity tend to follow a predictable progression. The toxicity begins with numbness of the tongue, lightheadedness, and visual disturbances and progresses to muscle twitching, unconsciousness, and seizures, then coma, respiratory arrest, and cardiovascular depression. CNS toxicity: When the lidocaine dose is increased from 1 mg/kg to 1.5 mg/kg, the risk of CNS toxicity increases from 10% to 80%. Symptoms include the following: o Lightheadedness, dizziness o Visual disturbance o Headache o Perioral tingling, numbness or tingling of tongue o Sedation o Impaired concentration o Dysarthria o Tinnitus o Metallic taste o Muscular twitching, tremors With progression of toxicity, the patient may experience tonic-clonic seizures and, eventually, unconsciousness and coma. Seizures generally do not occur with lidocaine levels of less than 10 mcg/mL. Cardiovascular: Excessive lidocaine concentration can cause cardiovascular toxicity, although this is less common than CNS toxicity. Lidocaine is somewhat less cardiotoxic than lipophilic local anesthetics such as bupivacaine. Risk of cardiac toxicity is greatest in those patients with underlying cardiac conduction problems or after myocardial infarction. Potential cardiovascular effects include the following: Negative inotropic effects Effects on vascular tone (with low doses having vasoconstrictive effects and higher doses causing relaxation of vascular smooth muscle) Effects on cardiac conduction include widened PR interval, widened QRS duration, sinus tachycardia sinus arrest, and partial or complete atrioventricular dissociation. Cardiac arrest has been reported after intraurethral administration of lidocaine. Cardiac toxicity is potentiated by acidosis, hypercapnia, and hypoxia, which worsen cardiac suppression and increase the chance of arrhythmia. This is important to consider since seizure makes this metabolic picture more likely. Plasma lidocaine levels of less than 5 mcg/mL are unlikely to have cardiovascular toxicities. Levels of 5-10 mcg/mL can cause hypotension by inducing both cardiac suppression and vascular smooth muscle relaxation. Levels of more than 30 mcg/mL are associated with cardiovascular collapse. CNS symptoms may be masked in patients premedicated with anticonvulsants such as benzodiazepines or barbiturates. The first sign of toxicity in these premedicated patients may be cardiovascular system (CVS) depression. When blood levels are high enough to block inhibitory and excitatory pathways, convulsions cease and the patient experiences respiratory depression or arrest and cardiovascular depression. Large bolus injections may increase peak anesthetic levels to the point where the CNS and CVS are simultaneously affected. I'm gonna do eeeeet !!!!

Brilliant video! These are some very useful tips! I have a couple questions: 1.) What camera do you use? 2.) Why is your youtube channel so awesome? Cheers from Canada.

how about an extraction of Dimethyltryptamine

Thank you I was just going to extract a chemical from a random item from the Walmart counter.

You're awesome! I am enamored with chemistry because of your videos. I wish you were my chemistry teacher in high school.

can someone help me extract dextromethorphan from delsym or robitussin syrup

If my chemistry teachers had been even 1/10th as inspiring as your videos, I would have been much more interested in chemistry. I got As and learned everything they taught me, but never really cared about the possibilities. The worst chemistry teacher I had would just come in, write the text word-for-word from the textbook on the whiteboard as he spoke it, then he would call it a day. I remember labs where we collected data, messed something up, then did some creative math to work backwards to get to the desired result. I also remember splashing some pretty strong acid on my shirt and being embarrassed, I hid it and completed the lab while my shirt slowly dissolved. Those were the good old days!

How to extract ephedrine

Excellent video as always. I plan on synthesizing caffeine from uracil in the lab later this week. I have also heard of it being synthesized from theobromine, though I do not have access to that reagent so I've decided upon the uracil method. Any plans to do a caffeine synthesis video, rather than extraction? Cheers from Ontario.

Nice job on the video I find it quite helpful! Have a great one!

Hey. Love the chemistry videos, been marathoning them recently. Any chance you could do a video on how to recrystallize various substances (in the generality that you did in this video)?

I have 2 questions.The first one:So I'm trying to extract some KOH from wood ash but what I'm left is really really dirt like KOH crystals.It's there any way to make them clear without the dirt stuff?The second one:Is there any way to separate KCl from NaCl?I got some kind of salk that have 50% NaCl and 50% KCl and I want to extract the KCl.

...a spreadsheet. Good idea. Sweet vintage Visionware.

Jesus Christ is Lord and King and Our Savior!

Please excuse my ignorance, but if the povidone is also soluble in dcm, what stops it from recrystalizing out alongside the caffeine?

3:00 - I follow most of this, but he mentions that it's possible to recrystallise caffeine from both water and alcohol, but doesn't explain this step. How does the know this? It's not obvious from the excel sheet because both povidone and caffeine have the same info on the sheet. So him knowing that caffeine can be recrystallised from either water or alcohol and povidone cant be (or how will they not both be recrystallised the same time)? That info must have come from outside knowledge. HELP ME! I really want to understand this process.

but what do you do if you cannot find solubility data for what you are extracting? (for example certain cellulases) do you just try random solvents and use the extract on cellulose until you see which one breaks down cellulose and use that to determine which solution had the enzyme dissolved in it? or would you just extract everything else until only that remains? also is there one easy way to determine a chemicals solubility or is that impossible due to stearic forces ect?

this guy makes the best chemical videos on RU-vid

+Nile Red You are extracting lidocaine form personal lubricant. Aren't you?

I love watching a Canadian chemist make videos. Shopper's Drug Mart? I know just where to find these ingredients!

Wow I got an excel tutorial for free

Thanks I will used this for prepping, turning spoil food into good food.

My highschool chem teach was amost as cool as Nile. Almost

I know this is a late comment, but what if there are "natural/artificial flavours" as a listed ingredient?

Do some essential oil videos and alcohol videos please!!!!!! I love watching your videos but I have no use for the dangerous stuff

ACETONE FROM CACLIUM ACETATE !!

It is so cool though how you are thinking. It has really opened my eyes to seeing all the chemicals that are in our everyday products we use. Anyone know a good channel with a chemistry background guy teaching you how to make safer alternatives to things like soap deodorant detergents and everyday products. Would like to rid the use of toxic products

Hey, nice video! May you try extracting cyanide from apple seeds? I think it would be a cool idea. Thanks!

It’s basic chemistry yo

will this work for dxm asking for a friend

How to extract betaine anhydrous from beetroot please make video

Amazing video, thank you :) As a side note, in tablets you can pretty much ignore everything except carbohydrates (such as lactose, starch, maltose, dextrose, cellulose etc.) other components (sometimes including active component) are present in very low concentrations, rarely more than 1%.

Do you have a recommendation of a cheap starter kit or list of glassware to get me started? Like a used chemistry wholesaler from a highschool maybe? I'm looking to do some simple to advanced chemistry experiments following your videos and some other RU-vidrs. Thanks!

I love this channel. Thanks for being you, Nile Red.

Could you please tell me how we could extract Calcium acetate from Calcium acetate 667 tablets?

This is a super helpful video! Now we can-

Are all of the top comments here honestly a bunch of drug addict children? be scientist. not ignorance. this is a very intellectual individual his content deserves more respect. you should all ( most of you ) be ashamed of yourselves. you know who you are . God bless you all, much Love from Kansas City USA. Jesus Christ loves you. respect yourselves more.

man I supper when you had 3k subs now almost 20k! congrads!

Nile red must be on several watchlists by now

This is one of the most brilliant chemistry videos I've come across.

Some of these over-the-counter extractions are surprisingly simple. For most dextromethorphan-hydrobromide products, all you need is baking soda, purified benzene and Vitamin C in an easily water-soluble form. A kitchen will do for a lab, since you're likely to find everything you need there.

You should make a video on how to clean all the garbage and poisons out of our prescription medications. Everyone needs to know this life saving knowledge

I missed the part where you separate the povidone. You say you recrytsalize the caffeine but... What happens to the povidone during that time??

Awesome video, chemistry is amazing. You should make a video extracting MDMA/MDA from ecstasy tablets! That'd be super dopee.

how do you properly dispose of DCM at your house?

Title Edit: "Breaking Bored staring HeisenDork"

Extracción of oxicodone of percocet jeje

let's be honest why we here... school failed us now we must find a way to make money

I work at a pharmacy so I could easily steal some pseudoephedrine and the best part is it won’t have entered the computer system yet if anyones interested, for the right price of course

can i freebase caffeine?

Imma try to cook meth soon

Love your videos. Please consider doing a video about extracting nicotine from cigarettes. Possibly very practical for people wanting to make their own vaping liquids.