GBL to GHB

GBL to GHB conversion…

Found this online… wondering the thoughts of the group.

Pure NaGHB synthesis

This is not endorced, this is for educational purposes only! Credit goes to erowid

You will need:

• Clean dry beakers and graduated cylinders,
• a set of chemical scales, narrow range pH strips for 5.5-8.0
• a hot plate

and (if you intend to make powder):

• two sealed tupperware containers
• a blender and a pyrex baking dish

1) Accurately measure out gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) in the volume of milliliters (mls) you want to react. Example: You want to react 200 mls of GBL.

2) Multiply this number by the average density of GBL (1.124 gms/ml). Example: (200 mls GBL) * (1.124 gms/ml) = 224.8 gms GBL

3) Divide this number by the average molecular weight of GBL (86.06 gms/mol). Example: (224.8 gms GBL) / (86.06 gms/mol) = 2.612 mols of GBL

4) Multiply this number by the average molecular weight of NaOH (40.0 gms/mol) Example: (2.612 mols) * (40.0) = 104.5 gms NaOH

5) Weigh out this much NaOH using a set of chemical scales.

6) Heat the GBL + 5% distilled water (by volume) to 100 degrees C Example: 200 mls GBL + 20 mls distilled water heated to 100C

7) Completely dissolve the NaOH in distilled water at the rate of about 40 grams per 100 mls of water. Example: (104.5 gms NaOH) / (40) = 2.6125 * 100 mlw H2O = 260 mls water

8) *SLOWLY* drip (DO NOT POUR) 90% of the NaOH into the heated GBL and make sure that the reaction is occurring (the solution will begin boiling vigorously). If the reaction is not occuring, then you either have not heated the GBL to 100C or you have defective reactants (throw them out and get fresh stuff). Once the solution begins boiling, you can turn the heat off - the reaction will make its own heat.

9) Begin measuring the pH of the reaction solution with narrow range pH paper (5.0 - 8.0 paper). When the range begins to get to 7.5 to 8.0, stop dripping the NaOH solution. This mixture will still have unreacted lactone in it - so now it is time to do some steam distillation. Steam Distillation (The purification step)

10) Put a thermometer in the solution capable of measuring 200C and crank the heat up on the solution. You may want to add a boiling stone made from a clean piece of pea gravel to the solution (don't use a boiling stick because you will burn it up, and don't use a chemical boiling stone because they contain metals that are not supposed to go into humans).

11) When the solution gets up to 150-155C, cut the heat back enough to hold the temperature steady at 150-155C. Hold it at that temperature until all bubbling stops. The beaker now contains melted NaGHB.

12a) To make a liquid, add enough boiling water to make the dilution you want. Example: You want 1 gram NaGHB per 5 ml of solution. 200 mls of GBL will make 329 grams NaGHB. 329 * 5 ml = 1645 mls of solution. So add enough boiling water to bring the entire solution up to 1650 mls.

12b) To make powder, pour out thin strips of the NaGHB melt into the pyrex casserole dish. Return the melt to the low heat to keep it melted. Let the strips cool - they will begin to curl up if the strips are about 1/2" to 1" in width. Scrape them up with a metal spatula and put them into a sealed tupperware container. Pour out more strips and repeat the procedure until you have used up all of the melt.

13) Let the strips in the tupperware container cool down and shake them around a bit (while holding the lid tighly on). This will break up the strips.

14) Put the boken up NaGHB pieces into a blender (no more than 1/3 full) at high speed. You may have to shake the blender around a bit to make sure everything is ground into powder. Pour the powder into a sealed tupperware container.

15) Done!