Clandestine manufacture of desomorphine involves two steps: the extraction of codeine from pharmacuetical products, followed by the synthesis of desomorphine from the codeine. The extraction of codeine involves mixing the codeine source (which often contains acetaminophen and other substances) with organic solvents such as gasoline, adding a strong base such as lye and then adding an acidic solution such as hydrochloric acid to produce water soluble codeine salts that will reside in the aqueous layer. The codeine can be further extracted but many will proceed directly with the next step. The extracted codeine is mixed with iodine, hydrochloric acid, and red phosphorus to reduce the codeine to desocodeine. Subsequently the desocodeine is demethylated itto desomorphine in a one-pot synthesis that may take 45 minutes. There are some reports of attempts at neutralization at the end of the reaction using cigarette ash or sodium bicarbonate. Despite these efforts the solution is often quite acidic with a pH less than 3.Analysis of Russian samples shows that what is purported to be desomorphine is often a sloppy mixture of 4 synthetic analogues of desomorphine, codeine, and other chemicals resulting from poor synthesis procedures. The actual desomorphine content of krokodil samples ranged from traces to 75%.