Hi,
I had batches looking quite similar over the last year (maybe the same...AT?
)
If so, your salesman is right - this stuff is unsnortable
Then, a simple cold acetone wash will not be sufficient. While it will come out white and dry (the moist/gooey stuff will be in solution with the acetone drain), it will for a large part keep its peppery sting and therefore tearjerking properties.
However, when properly recrystallized, it will come out as transparent to white crystals with hardly any noticeable odor and feeling pleasantly mild to the nose.
I'd go with a mix of distilled H2O and IPA. The more IPA in the mix, the finer and more elongated (needle shaped) the crystals are going to grow.
If you plan to go with simple coffee filters later on, you'll want to grow some descent crystals of a size that won't slip through the pores. I'd therefore recommend a ratio of something between 70:30 to 50:50 Water:IPA
Heat the mix (loosely covered with a lid) to a slight boiling temperature (~70-80•C) and then add dropwise/in small portions to a second vessel already containing the prepared 4-MMC while stirring. Stop adding liquid when all solids have become completely dissolved (no need to boil the solution extensively! Place the second vessel in a hot water bath while this though, to avoid cooling too fast and thereby using more solvent than actually required, see below).
2-3 ml water+IPA solvent mix per gram will do. With this procedure, fumes/smell will be minimal.
Be careful not to add too much liquid, as it will result in an unnecessarily elongated process time and maybe reduced yield (if reXing mainly on cooling).
And then, boiling off excess solvent with the drone already being in solution will definitely evoke aggressively stinking fumes
Finally, let it cool down slowly to room temperature and leave it undisturbed while that. Be patient, as formation of first crystals might tale some hours. When crystal growth at room temp comes to a halt, carefully transfer to the fridge for a few hours to squeeze out more out of the solution.
Finally filter off remaining solution (keep it and let it evaporate, as there will be still meph in solution that will eventuslly percipate out in finer crystals (which hovever will be laced with more impurities...you can clean those later in a second step).
Wash yielded crystals with a few drops of ice cold acetone from the freezer. Let dry and enjoy
Good Luck
Hotelier
P.S.: Water+Ethanol mix produces even nicer crystals, Ethanol is a bit more tricky however, as it evaporates slower than IPA ->more exact solvent/solvate ratio needs to be met, or you'll end up waiting a week+ to yielding or boiling off, and you don't want that. Furthermore, "oiling out" will happen more often with EtOH than with IPA ime. And you'll want this even less
