Ok, well here's the technique which will be used by the main characters in my play, "Bees, Buzzing, and the letter G" (working title). Comments and suggestions would be very much appreciated.
Ingredient Quantity Purpose
GBL 70% Solvent
NMP 20% Solvent
Orange Scent Unknown Scent
Denatonium Benzoate (Bitrex) Unkown Ingestion Deterrant
Step 1:
Removal of denatonium benzoate (Bitrex)
Steam distillation of 100mL GBL/NMP + 100mL dH2O mixture will effective separate GBL/NMP from Bitrex. GBL, NMP and “orange scent” will steam distill. Collect 170mL of distillate (~29% GBL=[50mL, 56g GBL] ~18% NMP=[30mL])
Step 2:
Removal of “orange scent” from distillate
“Orange scent” is immiscible in H2O and can be drawn off with pipet
Step 3:
Preparation of NaGHB using NaHCO3 (Chromic’s Method)
57.1g of NaHCO3 are added to 235mL of dH2O in a glass container. Slowly heat the solution to boiling with gentle stirring. Reduce heat to light boil and slowly add the 170mL of the distilled GBL/NMP solution. Set up to boil under reflux (NMP vapor may be toxic). Maintain light boiling reflux for 30 minutes. Check pH with universal paper. pH should be 6-8. If pH goes too high (> 9-10), hydrolysis of NMP -> 4-(methylamino)-butyric acid will occur. ~91.84g of GHB would be made during this synthesis assuming a 100% successful distillation. 68.88g would be made assuming a 75% successful distillation. 49.27g of GHB would be made assuming a 50% successful distillation.
Step 4:
Separation of NaGHB from NMP by distillation
The ~405mL solution of GHB/NMP is distilled down to 200mL and the distillate is discarded.10g of activated charcoal is added to the reaming ~205mL of solution and boiled gently for 10 minutes.
Step 5:
Removal of charcoal, final boil and quantitative analysis
The 205mL of GHB/charcoal solution is gravity filtered as many times as it takes for the solution to be without visible trace of charcoal. Solution is then gently boiled until ~150C is reached and/or bubbling stops to remove any remaining NMP and to drive off H2O. This solution is then poured into a Pyrex baking dish, covered with plastic wrap and allowed to cool. After cooling, the GHB will have (hopefully) hardened. A suitable container is placed on the scale and weighed. The NaGHB is then placed into this container and the weight of the container is subtraced from the total weight. The amount should be weighed to the nearest 0.1g. A scale which is not capable of this should not be used.