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

α-Pyrrolidinovalerophenone (α-PVP), a dangerous designer drug, is now being marketed around the world as a harmless `bath salt', when in reality it is a powerful ß-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(+)·Cl(-)·0.786H2O. 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.