[Haftred]

In organic lab this week we were mixing (1-R, 2-S) ephedrine with mandelic acid to get crystals.  I dissolved both compounds in 6 mL 95% EtOH and then poured them together.  After cooling + glass prodding I should have had no trouble getting crystals.  HOWEVER, during the cooling I accidently added about 10 mL of methylene chloride to the mixture, and was unable to get crystals at room temp.  I knew DCM has a low boiling point so I just boiled off all of the solvent and added 12 mL of EtOH 95%.  I then re-heated the soln and let it cool. I prodded the sides with a glass rod and still nothing.  Then I decided to put the soln (it was in a 100 ml erlenmeyer) on ice.  Before you know it I had crystals.  Can I be confident that these are the crystals of the resulting compound when ephedrine and mandelic acid are reacted?

Thanks.

[nj_bartel]

Does this sound to anyone else like a precursor to methamphetamine production?  Reductant added to pseudoephedrine?

[Haftred]

This is what our instructor told us to do..we're separating the enantiomers of ephedrine.  The TA wouldn't let me do it again because like you said ephedrine is a precursor for illegal drugs so it's expensive and hard to get.  Any help appreciated...