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Semi-synthetic cocaine synthesis

WARNING!!! The anticholinergic tropane alkaloids used are EXTREMELY POISONOUS and can be ABSORBED THROUGH THE SKIN!!! Please take EXTREME precautions when handling these plants and the resulting anticholinergic tropane alkaloids that lie within. You must give these plants great respect or they will punish you severely. In lieu of waterproof lab attire, using large disposable trash bags to cover your full body; the head, torso, hands, arms, and legs, as well as safety glasses for the face is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!!! Physostigmine, a cholinergic agent, is the chemical used to reverse the anticholinergic effects and poisoning of the tropane alkaloids. It occurs naturally in the Calabar bean and the fruit of the Manchineel tree. It is an extremely toxic substance with a mechanism of action similar to nerve gas.

Overview

Here we are obtaining tropine to create tropinone from a natural source; the anticholinergic tropane alkaloids such as atropine, scopolamine, hyocyamine, mandragovine, and other similar tropane alkaloids obtained from the plants in the Solanaceae family, such Belladonna, Datura, Henbane, Brugmansia, and Mandrake. Tropane alkaloids all contain the tropane ring which, when separated from the tropic, scopic, and hyoscopic, and similar acids becomes tropine, which we can use as a source chemical to produce tropinone, which is necessary for creation of synthetic cocaine. These plants grow in most of the parts of the world. With this semi-synthetic synthesis we can grow these plants nearly anywhere in the world, make cocaine cheaply within the country without having to transport it or cut it, to ensure harm reduction and that the cartels, traffickers, and other such dangerous criminals are out of a job.

Extraction

A boiling water extraction is used to extract the tropane alkaloids from the plant material. A sheet of cloth as a filter is put down in a container and water is boiled in said container. The plants are then pulled up by the roots, washed with water, and then placed in the container and pulverized and macerated while under the water with an appropriate utensil such as a piece of wood or a pipe, which is also used to stir the brew. Keeping a lid on the container at all times will preclude spattering, as the liquid could possibly absorb through your skin giving you anticholinergic poisoning. After the brew has boiled for some time pull up the cloth as a filter, leaving the extracted alkaloids in the water. Boil down the water for a concentrated solution of tropane alkaloids. Multiple extractions of the same plant matter, and multiple extractions of different plant matter from another vessel(s) and transferred and boiled down in the main vessel will result in a concentrated aqueous solution of tropane alkaloids.

Hydrolysis

The concentrated solution of tropane alkaloids has sodium hydroxide (NaOH or lye) added to it, which binds with the hydrolyzed acids to make sodium acid salts and tropine in the aqueous solution. The solution can be boiled down and the tropine extracted with anhydrous ethanol for the two above tropinone syntheses involving tropine.

Hydrogenation

For the hydrogenation reaction above we can use a (sealable) conductive metal container and a metal object or two conductive metal objects in the ethanoic solution containing the NaOH acting as an electrolyte. We can set up an electrolysis reaction for a sort of sparging situation where hydrogen bubbles up through the (sealable) metal container acting like a hydrogenator. We can use any electricity source we choose, sealing the metal container and allowing the hydrogen gas to bubble up through the ethanoic solution, hydrogenating the 2-Carbomethoxytropinone into methylecgonine. This setup may be much easier and less suspicious than a conventional hydrogenator, and can be done in-situ.

Fractional Crystallization

Cocaine has 16 sterioisomers, different configurations of the cocaine molecule. One of these is the cocaine we are looking for, the other sterioisomers are either inactive, or may be toxic. Since the sterioisomers have the same molecular mass we cannot use chromatography or distillation to separate them. Instead we dissolve the hydrochloride sterioisomers in a heated, aqueous supersaturated solution and then use a seed crystal of the cocaine hydrochloride isomer we are looking for and then lower the temperature of the supersaturated solution. This causes the correct cocaine hydrochloride sterioisomer to crystallize on the seed crystal. This is fractional crystallization and separates the correct sterioisomer from the rest of the other sterioisomers. A cocaine seed crystal can be obtained from an anhydrous acetone wash of street cocaine. Cocaine hydrochloride is completely insoluble in pure, anhydrous acetone, but all cutting agents are, dissolving them away leaving pure cocaine hydrochloride crystals, which can then be used for our fractional crystallization process.