A model experiment in the study of cocaine base smoking. Isolation of methyl 4-(3-pyridyl) butyrate from cocaine pyrolysate.

Cocaine base was pyrolysed at 600 degrees C in a nitrogen atmosphere and methyl 4-(3-pyridyl) butyrate was isolated as one of the main components from the cocaine pyrolysate. The structure of the compound was determined by spectral means as well as by comparison with a synthetic sample.