The dangerous new synthetic drug α-PVP as the hydrated chloride salt α-pyrrolidinopentiophenone hydrochloride 0.786-hydrate

alpha-Pyrrolidinovalerophenone (alpha-PVP), a dangerous designer drug, is now being marketed around the world as a harmless 'bath salt', when in reality it is a powerful beta-ketone phenethylamine stimulant. A sample of the free base from a recent law-enforcement seizure was crystallized as the HCl salt [systematic name: 1-(1-oxo-1-phenylpentan-2-yl)pyrrolidin-1-ium chloride 0.786-hydrate], C15H22NO+center dot Cl-center dot 0.786H(2)O. In the crystal structure, the propyl chain is nearly perpendicular to both the phenyl ring and the carbonyl group. The hydrogen-bonding scheme involves the quaternary N atom, the Cl- anion and the partially occupied (0.786) water molecule, forming centrosymmetric dimers.