Extracting Codeine with Acetone or Other Solvents
Daktologist
Global Moderator
So I have given some thought to the subject in recent weeks. Given the fact that codeine will be insoluble in some solvents while the paracetamol will be soluble, Its possible to extract with minimal or zero losses in theory. For instance, the chart below shows the solubility of codeine into various solvents.
Codeine freebase
Water (8.3mg/ml)
Diethyl ether (20-50mg/ml)
Acetone (40mg/ml)
Dichloromethane (200mg/ml)
Ethanol (500mg/ml)
Chloroform (2000mg/ml)
Codeine Hydrochloride:
Water (33.3mg/ml)
Ethanol (10mg/ml)
Dichloromethane (2mg/ml)
Insoluble in Acetone, Diethyl ether
Codeine Phosphate:
Water (250mg/ml)
Ethanol (2.2mg/ml)
Insoluble in Acetone, Ether, Dichloromethane
Caffeine
Water (15mg/ml)
Ethanol (15mg/ml)
Acetone (20mg/ml)
Very soluble in Chloroform and Dichloromethane
Paracetamol
Water 17 mg/ml
Ethanol 232 mg/ml
Isopropanol 135 mg/ml
Methanol 371 mg/ml
Acetone 111 mg/ml in
Insoluble in Chloroform, Dichloromethane.
I'm thinking it's possible to dissolve the tablets into acetone which paracetamol is soluble in (111 mg/ml) while the codeine phosphate is insoluble, allow the crystallised Codeine to settle to the bottom before decanting the acetone leaving mostly codeine phosphate and some soluble binders from the tablets.
Without actually testing the theory, it is mostly going on what I have read which wasn't much but does allegedly work. I have also heard of reacting freebase codeine with phosphoric acid in the presence of acetone and collecting the gummy goo that precipitates out of the solution from the bottom of the vessel which is pure codeine phosphate, but whether or not it will gum up the same if the codeine phosphate is added to the acetone is unknown. I'm guessing not.
Ultimately a cold water extraction is pretty simple but is somewhat wasteful. There has to be a way of making extraction more efficient and less wasteful IMO. Getting codeine OTC is getting more and more difficult so testing this theory is going to be difficult but I believe it can be done either by how I think it could work or by tweaking it somewhat. Acetone is rather cheap and easy to obtain.
Thoughts, Ideas, Suggestions?.
Codeine freebase
Water (8.3mg/ml)
Diethyl ether (20-50mg/ml)
Acetone (40mg/ml)
Dichloromethane (200mg/ml)
Ethanol (500mg/ml)
Chloroform (2000mg/ml)
Codeine Hydrochloride:
Water (33.3mg/ml)
Ethanol (10mg/ml)
Dichloromethane (2mg/ml)
Insoluble in Acetone, Diethyl ether
Codeine Phosphate:
Water (250mg/ml)
Ethanol (2.2mg/ml)
Insoluble in Acetone, Ether, Dichloromethane
Caffeine
Water (15mg/ml)
Ethanol (15mg/ml)
Acetone (20mg/ml)
Very soluble in Chloroform and Dichloromethane
Paracetamol
Water 17 mg/ml
Ethanol 232 mg/ml
Isopropanol 135 mg/ml
Methanol 371 mg/ml
Acetone 111 mg/ml in
Insoluble in Chloroform, Dichloromethane.
I'm thinking it's possible to dissolve the tablets into acetone which paracetamol is soluble in (111 mg/ml) while the codeine phosphate is insoluble, allow the crystallised Codeine to settle to the bottom before decanting the acetone leaving mostly codeine phosphate and some soluble binders from the tablets.
Without actually testing the theory, it is mostly going on what I have read which wasn't much but does allegedly work. I have also heard of reacting freebase codeine with phosphoric acid in the presence of acetone and collecting the gummy goo that precipitates out of the solution from the bottom of the vessel which is pure codeine phosphate, but whether or not it will gum up the same if the codeine phosphate is added to the acetone is unknown. I'm guessing not.
Ultimately a cold water extraction is pretty simple but is somewhat wasteful. There has to be a way of making extraction more efficient and less wasteful IMO. Getting codeine OTC is getting more and more difficult so testing this theory is going to be difficult but I believe it can be done either by how I think it could work or by tweaking it somewhat. Acetone is rather cheap and easy to obtain.
Thoughts, Ideas, Suggestions?.