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 β‐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.