Sodium Hydroxide → Codeine

Participants

Reaction Steps

1 g (2.52 mmol) of codeine phosphate was dissolved in 60 mL of water and then 30% NaOH solution was added dropwise until the pH of the solution reached 10. Codeine free base precipitated out at this pH. Codeine free base was extracted with chloroform 5 times from the aqueous layer. Chloroform layers were combined, dried over anhydrous Na2SO4, filtered and then concentrated under vacuum to get 0.59 g (78% yield) of codeine free base as a white solid.

Provenance & Evidence