where can you find liquid IM sodium hydroxide

SOL wrote: »

I can't see how you are going to get from cinnamaldehyde to methamphetamine in any reasonable number of steps that are accessible to the bathroom chemist... that said I am curious as to your reasons for needing these things?

If yeast has the same response to cinnamon oil, as it does to almond oil, you could be cookin'.

http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=1936


Why does everyone assume that an amateur asking questions about chemicals is trying to make drugs. Especially when someone lacks even the rudimentary knowledge of something like caustic soda.

It gets silly once it's at a point where you can't even as where to find the ingredients to make sarsaparilla without people raising concerns you're trying to make some kind of drug.

SOL wrote: »

It wouldn't be the right product at all... no drugs here... move along now...

I don't think he's trying to make drugs....but could he be trying to make almond essence?

Does Cinnamaldehyde + NaOH yield, 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde?

I wish I could remember my chemistry. It looks like fun. How do you remove the hydroxyl to get benzaldehyde?

Adamcp898 wrote: »

Or he could just be making pretzels...........

Pretzels is something I've made. A sprinkle of cinnamon; yes. Caustic soda; that would be a new one on me.

SOL wrote: »

I can't see how you are going to get from cinnamaldehyde to methamphetamine in any reasonable number of steps that are accessible to the bathroom chemist...

There's a video on youtube. Preparation of benzaldehyde from cinnamaldehyde and sodium hydroxide. A steam distillation. It looks doable in a bathroom - though looks like something that requires a lot of practice. I wonder would it bother the neighbours, or would they just think you're doing a lot of baking with cinnamon and almonds. Though if your a working chemical engineer, you might have an opportunity to "divert" benzaldehyde from another source.

But then you might not use the benzaldehyde route at all, which involves brewing with yeast. Which is a lot more tricky than mixing and heating stuff.

As a result of Breaking Bad, there's been a whole slew of chemical engineers detailing on their blogs about how they would go about breaking bad. I don't know the situation in Ireland, but in the US any suspect purchase will come to the attention of the DEA - they have a budget of billions. Even buying glassware on ebay could be enough to draw a kick through the door and a swat team of federalis pointing weapons at your head.

The recipes make entertaining reading even if you have no intention of making anything. Using Styrofoam cups (no one will raise an eyebrow at that purchase), making methylamine by dissolving fire lighters in hydrochloric acid (very doable in a bathroom set up).

Going the styrene route, the only chemical I can see that doesn't appear to have an easy bathroom production process from materials you can get off the shelf at a supermarket without looking suspicious, is acetyl anhydride. I know they must get through gallons of the stuff at colleges (in labs making aspirin and paracetemol) but where and how can you acquire it without employing deception or theft?

Unless the process of passing ethanol vapour through a copper pipe heated to a high temp by a Bunsen, then condensing, can produce acetaldehyde. And if the acetaldehyde to acetyl anhydride process isn't difficult. But a naked flame and flammable solvents is not a great combination in a bathroom. but if it works, the only thing I can see as might be tricky to get is mercury salts.

Now, if you could find an off the shelf wood preserver with acetic anhydride, a complete in bathroom production may be possible.

SOL......how would you go about it?...........Probably by swiping chemicals from your place of work. But the trick is to get all the ingredients without resorting to either criminality, deception, or by purchasing any watched chemical.